There is a lot of buzz surrounding the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, slated to be held in India from October 5 to November 19.
As per the schedule released by the ICC last month, the high-voltage India versus Pakistan encounter will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on October 15. Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kolkata are the other four venues where Pakistan’s matches have been allocated.
Meanwhile, a report published in PTI claims that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) acting chairman Zaka Ashraf will push for the country's ODI World Cup matches at neutral venues at the ICC meeting in Durban this week.
"Zaka Ashraf will bring up the issue of why can't Pakistan's matches in the World Cup be played at neutral venues when the Indian team can't travel to Pakistan for the Asia Cup," Ehsan Mazari, the Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination (Sports), quoted as saying by PTI.
Notably, the Asia Cup 2023 was supposed to be solely hosted by Pakistan but BCCI refused to travel to the neighbouring country, citing a lack of clearance from the government and security reasons.
Subsequently, PCB threatened to boycott the ODI World Cup in India and also proposed a hybrid model to host the multi-nation event, which was eventually approved by the ACC.
A total of 13 games will be played in the Asia Cup, with Pakistan conducting four games and Sri Lanka staging 9 matches from August 31 to September 17.
According to the report, PCB recently conveyed to the ICC and the BCCI that the national team's participation in the World Cup is subject to government clearance.
Mazari stated that, like him, some other members of the special committee, formed by Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to recommend whether the national team should travel to India for the World Cup, also felt in their personal capacities that it was time Pakistan took a strong stance on India’s refusal to tour the country.
"I want our World Cup matches at neutral venues if India doesn't want to send its team to Pakistan for Asia Cup. If they have security problems in Pakistan according to the Indian board, then we can also question the security situation in India," he said.
Speaking to PTI, a PCB source also said that Ashraf’s predecessor Najam Sethi had prepared a strong case for the ICC to increase Pakistan's revenue share in the new financial model for member countries.
"Sethi had argued that if India was to get the lion's share of the ICC revenues Pakistan also wanted an increase in its share as without its participation, the ICC would not be able to sign lucrative broadcast and other sponsorship deals for its new cycle of ICC events from 2023-2027," said the source.
"The situation is clear (that) if there is no Pakistan-India matches in ICC events, the other boards stand to lose out on revenue," the source added.
(With PTI Inputs)
