The 2023 edition of Asia Cup is all set to get underway on August 30. While four games of the continental tournament will be played in Pakistan, the rest of the fixtures including all of India’s matches and the final will be held in Sri Lanka.

Ahead of the marquee event, a report published in PTI suggests that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has invited Jay Shah, the secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the President of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), to attend the inaugural clash of the Asia Cup.

Pakistan are scheduled to take on Nepal in the tournament opener at the Multan Cricket Stadium.

Besides Shah, the PCB has also extended invitation to the heads of other cricket boards associated with the ACC.

“The PCB has basically followed up on the invitation which was extended verbally by chairman Zaka Ashraf to Jay Shah when they both met in Durban for the ICC meeting,” PTI quoted a source as saying.

Earlier, the BCCI secretary denied the reports of Pakistani media that he had accepted PCB's invitation.

“The PCB was obviously embarrassed after the Pakistani media reported that Jay Shah had accepted Zaka Ashraf's invitation and the Indian board official later flatly denied this,” the source said.

Aware of the deterioration of bilateral relations between India and Pakistan, the source claimed PCB wanted to show that it does not mix sports with politics by inviting Jay Shah.

“The idea is to basically highlight Pakistan's chosen stance on cricket relations with India that it does not mix politics with sports,” he added.

The final of the Asia Cup is slated to take place in Colombo on September 17.

(With PTI Inputs)