India Refuses to Tour Pakistan for Asia Cup 2023; Tournament to be shifted to a neutral venue
India last traveled to Pakistan for the bilateral series in 2005-06.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) general secretary, Jay Shah on Tuesday (October 18) confirmed that India won’t be traveling to Pakistan for the 2023 Asia Cup, which is set to be played in the 50-overs format.
Not just this, the son of the honorable Home Minister also confirmed that the Asia Cup 2023 will now be shifted to a neutral venue. Shedding light on the issue, here’s what BCCI secretary Jay Shah said:
“We’ll have Asia Cup 2023 at a neutral venue. It’s the Government that decides over the permission of our team visiting Pakistan so we won’t comment on that but for the 2023 Asia Cup, it is decided that the tournament will be held at a neutral venue.”
The development came forward on the day when Jay Shah was re-appointed as the BCCI Secretary while 1983 World Cup-winning member Roger Binny took up the role of the president of the world’s richest cricket board, replacing Sourav Ganguly.
For the unversed, India last traveled to the neighboring country for the bilateral series in 2005-06 under the captaincy of current Team India coach Rahul Dravid. The arch-rivals, however, have not played any bilateral cricket series since 2012-13 when Pakistan visited India for three T20Is and as many ODIs.
Both teams, however, face each other in the World events or Asia Cup, the matches of which are highly awaited and anticipated. India played against Pakistan in the 2021 T20 World Cup and recently in Asia Cup in the United Arab Emirates.
The arch-rivals will once again lock horns with each other in the T20 World Cup 2022 on Sunday, October 23 at Melbourne Cricket Ground. The tickets of the same were sold out within hours of its release.
