International cricket is back after the nearly 2 month long Indian Premier League 2023 season came to an end on Monday morning. Cricket fans will now witness the first ICC tournament of the year. The focus shifts to London, England as India and Australia battle it out in the finals of the prestigious World Test Championships final. It is going to be busy few months for every team, specially for team India as they get ready for the biggest prize of the year which is the ODI world cup.
The story so far –
Asia Cup 2023 has been in the eye of the storm with Pakistan named as the host. The Board Of Control for Cricket in India has maintained its stance of not touring Pakistan despite security assurances. The Pakistan Cricket Board then came up with a “Hybrid Model” with India playing its games in UAE or Sri Lanka. BCCI, for its part has now turned down this proposal as well.
ACC set to snub Pakistan as the host?
If the reports doing the rounds are anything to go by, then Pakistan could miss the hosting rights of the tournament. The Asian Cricket Council might rope in Sri Lanka as the venue after BCCI decided against playing the Hybrid Model which was suggested by Pakistan. The tournament could take place in September which is just a month before the start of the 50 over world cup to be held in India.
Will Pakistan boycott the tournament?
Asia Cup was last played in 2022 in UAE which was won by Sri Lanka. That edition though was in the 20 over format. The last time the tournament was played in the 50 over format was in 2018 at UAE which was won by India by beating Bangladesh in the final.
If Sri Lanka is awarded the hosting rights of the tournament, there is a chance that Pakistan could pull out. The Pakistan Cricket Board will now decide their next course of action in a meeting to be held by ACC. The Asian Cricket Council will tell the PCB about the stance of other nations to play in Sri Lanka after BCCI had made its intentions clear on playing in one country rather than the complex Hybrid Model proposed by PCB.