The Indian Cricket Board will not support the ‘hybrid model’ proposed by Pakistan Cricket Board Management Committee Chairman Najam Sethi to host the Asia Cup.
In the report of the foreign news agencies published in the newspaper, it was mentioned with reference to the Press Trust of India that the Secretary of the Indian Cricket Board, Jay Shah, who is also the Chairman of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), held an informal meeting in Ahmedabad. I reiterated the position of the Indian Board.
If the hybrid model is implemented, the group stage matches of the Asia Cup will be held in Pakistan in which India will not participate, after which the tournament will be shifted to a neutral country.
The Indian Cricket Board and Jay Shah do not agree with the Pakistan Cricket Board’s proposal and want the entire tournament to be shifted to a neutral venue, preferably Sri Lanka, but the final decision will be taken by the powerful ACC Executive Committee.
A member from ACC said that the final decision will be taken only in the Asian Cricket Council’s executive board meeting, which will have to be called by Jay Shah.
Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan have already told the Pakistan Cricket Board that they have no problem playing their matches in Pakistan, but India is not supporting the hybrid model.
Five Test-playing nations (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan), three nations have One Day International and T20 International status on the ACC Executive Board while 17 nations can only play T20 matches.
Will there be a vote on the issue of the hybrid model?
The ACC member opined that voting cannot be done on a hybrid model, I mean if 6 countries are participating in an event, what about the status of the other 19 who are not playing the tournament? On what basis will they participate in voting?
Najam Sethi has told ACC that hosting the Asia Cup in 2 countries means double the mileage for broadcasters but the BCCI feels it will be a logistical nightmare as the UAE cannot be a neutral venue.
It should be noted that PCB will host the 8-nation Asia Cup in September this year, but India has refused to participate, after which it has offered to hold a few matches under the ‘hybrid’ model.
Pakistan has warned that if India refuses to come to Pakistan to participate in the Asia Cup, then they will not participate in the World Cup scheduled in India. The World Cup cricket scheduled in India will be played in October and November this year.
