PCB hits back at BCCI

Amid the ongoing T20 World Cup, Asia Cup 2023 has become a bigger debate

Just days before the Indo-Pak clash in the T20 World Cup (on Sunday) at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have come face to face.

It all started with the BCCI first saying that their team will travel to Pakistan for the Asia Cup 2023 if their government allows them.

However, just after that, Jay Shah, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) President and BCCI Secretary, announced that India will not visit the neighbouring country and the tournament will be shifted to a neutral venue.

“The Asia Cup 2023 will be held at a neutral venue. I am saying this as ACC President. We [India] can’t go there [to Pakistan], they can’t come here. In the past also, the Asia Cup has been played at a neutral venue,” said Jay, who is the son of India’s Home Minister Amit Shah, known for his extremist views regarding Pakistan and Muslims.

Interestingly, Jay had presided over the ACC meeting during which Pakistan was awarded the Asia Cup 2023 hosting with the complete conviction of the ACC Board Members.

PCB did not take Shah’s statement well and termed it surprising and disappointing, adding that Jay did not take any stakeholder into confidence before issuing such a crucial statement as the ACC boss.

“The comments were made without any discussion or consultation with the Board of the Asian Cricket Council or the Pakistan Cricket Board (event host) and without any thoughts towards their long-term consequences and implications,” read the official statement of the PCB.

Pakistan’s cricket governing body further maintained that it was a unilateral decision of Jay and it was against the spirit of the ACC.

“After having presided over the ACC meeting during which Pakistan was awarded the ACC Asia Cup with overwhelming support and response from the ACC Board Members, Mr Shah’s statement of shifting of the ACC Asia Cup has clearly been made unilaterally,” the statement added. “This is contrary to the philosophy and spirit for which the Asian Cricket Council was formed in September 1983 – a united Asian cricket body to safeguard the interests of its members and organise, develop and promote the game of cricket in Asia.”

The PCB is also wary of the long-term implications this decision can have on Pakistan cricket. International action has just returned to the country after untiring efforts of more than a decade. Now, this attitude towards the game can divide Asian nations from other cricketing countries. The statement further warned of Pakistan’s potential boycott of the upcoming World Cup.

“The overall impact of such statements have the potential to split the Asian and international cricketing communities, and can impact Pakistan’s visit to India for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 and future ICC events in India in the 2024-2031 cycle,” the statement read.

The cricket board furthered that they have not been communicated anything by the ACC regarding their president’s words, requesting the continental body to call an emergency meeting so that this matter can be discussed.

As expected by Narendra Modi’s fascist regime, the people concerned are not putting in any effort to mitigate the situation, instead, they are fanning the fire.

India’s Sports Minister Anurag Thakur stated on Thursday that Pakistan are expected to travel to India for the World Cup 2023 like all the other teams qualified for the global event.

He yet again maintained that unfriendly tone against Pakistan, which has been their identity in politics and claimed that India is not in a position to be dictated to.

“Many times Pakistan teams have come to India and played. I feel India is not in a position to be dictated [to] and there is no reason for anyone to do that. I expect all countries to come and compete,” he said.

Former players back PCB

The Sultan of Swing Wasim Akram admired how the PCB responded to Jay’s words and maintained that India cannot tell Pakistan how to go about their stuff. He added that if he had to make a decision, he should have called PCB Chairman Ramiz Raja.

“It was a brilliant statement from our cricket board. India can’t dictate how Pakistan play their cricket,” said the former captain during a show at A Sports. “Communication is important, if Jay Shah had to say anything, he should have phone-called the PCB chairman, there should have been a meeting of the Asian Cricket Council. There should have been a discussion.”

Meanwhile, former star all-rounder Shahid Afridi also applauded PCB’s approach and tweeted that this is how these sensitive matters are dealt with.

“I like @TheRealPCB statement on the Asia Cup. This is how mature, sensible and professional organisations handle sensitive and important matters,” he wrote.

A motivation?

Last year, just ahead of the T20 World Cup, New Zealand called off Pakistan’s tour just hours before the first ODI, following unexplained security threats.

Just days after that disastrous call, Pakistan fans received another heartbreak when England cancelled their historic visit after 2005.

The cricket board, players and fans were devastated and were absolutely fuming. PCB Boss Raja had asked the players to go into the World Cup and show everyone what Pakistan cricket is and they did exactly that.

The team looked like men on a mission. In their first match of the campaign, they defeated the arch-rivals India for the first time in a World Cup fixture.

The carnage was initiated by the left-arm pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi, who cleaned up Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul in just no time, while the prolific opening pair of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan manhandled Indian bowling line, chasing a target of 152 runs for no loss.

They reached the semi-finals of the tournament unbeaten, winning against India, New Zealand, Scotland, Namibia and Afghanistan. They lost to the eventual winner of the tournament, Australia.

This time around, Pakistan is once again facing a crisis and they might once again attack like cornered tigers.

The Men-in-Green have not been in the best of forms as their middle-order has been struggling big time, while Rizwan and Babar are too not in their golden touch.

However, the positive aspect for Pakistan is that they won the tri-nation series against Bangladesh and the Blackcaps in the difficult playing conditions of New Zealand just before the global tournament started.

Moreover, Shaheen’s comeback to the side has also boosted Pakistan’s confidence. Fans were dreaming of seeing Naseem and Shaheen bowl together on Australian tracks against India and it seems their dream is coming true.

On the other hand, India have a mighty batting in the likes of captain Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav.

In contrast, their bowling does not look as competent as their batting in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah. Bhuvneshwar Kumar can be testing in Australian playing conditions and Mohammad Shami is another bowler that can bother Babar and Co. Yet, it will be interesting to see how they fare as they have not been in their prime anymore.

Apart from these two, India’s pace battery is quite inexperienced in the shape of Harshal Patel and Arshdeep Singh, who have played 21 and 13 T20Is, respectively.

The fans are drooling over the prospects of Shaheen and Naseem bowling to Sharma, Kohli and Yadav, while hoping Rizwan and Babar to fire yet again.

Having said that, rain can have the last laugh as there is a scary weather forecast for the day. According to the Australian government’s website, there are high chances of heavy rains during the game.

“Very high (95%) chance of showers, most likely in the morning and early afternoon. Light winds becoming southwesterly 15 to 20 km/h in the middle of the day then tending southerly in the early afternoon,” the forecast on the website read.

Pakistan and India will come face to face at 7pm local time and it is the window where the weather is likely to get harsher.

As per Accuweather.com, in the later part of the day, there is a prediction of two hours of continuous rain, which can impact the much-awaited contest dearly.

Whatever the prediction is, fans are keeping their fingers crossed and praying for clouds to stay away as they do not want to miss the thrilling action.