• Harbhajan Singh states Indian team should not go to Pakistan.
• India’s refusal to travel to Pakistan on political grounds casts doubt on the Asia Cup’s future.
• Najam Sethi has been dealing with the Asia Cup issue ever since.

Harbhajan Singh, a former Indian cricketer, stated that the Indian team should not travel to Pakistan for the Asia Cup this year.

The former spinner stated in his most recent interview that India cannot risk travelling to Pakistan given the current situation there.

He said, “I think Indian team shouldn’t go there. Recently, a couple of incidents took place there during PSL. Our team will not be safe there. We can’t take chance,”

“Last time, when the two teams played in a series, the relations between the two countries were good. Currently, the relations are not good so we can’t go.”

For the first time since 2008, the Asia Cup will be held in 2023 at the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). However, India’s refusal to travel to Pakistan on political grounds casts doubt on the Asia Cup’s future.

India “can’t” send a team to Pakistan, BCCI secretary Jay Shah said last year, adding that the Asia Cup would be moved to a neutral location.

Following Shah’s statement, the then-chairman of the PCB, Ramiz Raja, made bold statements. Raja had stated that India would not participate in the World Cup in Pakistan if they did not visit.

Najam Sethi has been dealing with the Asia Cup issue ever since he took over as head of the PCB in December of last year.

Sethi closed by COO Salman Naseer and Faisal Hasnain will examine this issue in ICC meeting, planned on Walk 20 in Dubai.

Sethi sought advice from the federal government prior to the crucial meeting with ICC and ACC officials.

Sethi told, “I have approached our government to take their point of view on this matter. If our patron [PM Shehbaz Sharif] asks us to go and play World Cup India regardless of whether they come here to play Asia Cup or not, we will have to consider it,”

“So far, our government’s point of view is also the same, if India do not come here, we will also not go there in World Cup. I believe that we have more security concerns in India due to the ongoing communal issues there,”

“So, we need to keep our government and security agencies in loop while making any decision regarding Asia Cup in Pakistan and World Cup in India.”

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