Since India won’t be going to Pakistan for the 2023 Asia Cup, it’s unclear where the competition will actually take place. The news broke on the day of the BCCI’s annual general meeting in Mumbai, where Jay Shah, the BCCI secretary and head of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), urged that the Asia Cup should be played at a different location in the following year.
Following the BCCI AGM, Shah informed the media that the Asia Cup 2023 would take place at a neutral location. “This is what I’m saying as ACC President. They cannot come here, and neither can we [India]. Asia Cup matches have previously taken place at a neutral site.” When Shah addressed the media, the newly elected officers of the BCCI, including president Roger Binny, treasurer Ashish Shelar, and board vice-president Rajiv Shukla, were there.
The ACC has not yet convened to talk about the issue, much less to make a formal decision. The PCB is now wondering in what capacity Shah was speaking on the subject and why he decided to do so at a BCCI AGM. A PCB representative stated that the board would not be responding at this time, but a forceful response is not ruled out: for example, there has already been discussion inside the board of leaving the ACC. Regarding the comments, the PCB is anticipated to write to the ACC.
Shah’s remarks might also have some bearing on two ICC events that will take place in Pakistan and India in the coming years. Pakistan is slated to host the 2025 Champions Trophy, with India hosting the 2023 ODI World Cup shortly after the Asia Cup. It remains to be seen what effect India’s inability to play in Pakistan, and Pakistan’s inability to play in India, will have on those competitions. Pakistan needed permission from their government to visit India for the 2016 T20 World Cup, and they only received it just in time. It’s unlikely that the ICC will make a statement at this time.
Pakistan’s most recent visit to India was for the 2016 ICC tournament, while India last travelled to Pakistan for the 2008 Asia Cup. Since Pakistan toured India for a white-ball only series in 2012–2013, the two nations have not played any bilateral cricket matches due to tense political tensions.
India and Pakistan are scheduled to play each other again at the T20 World Cup in Melbourne on October 23. Their most recent matchup took place at the 2022 Asia Cup in the UAE in August and September of this year. There’s little doubt that the tension leading up to that game will be a little higher now. The comments have caused dissatisfaction at least within the PCB, not least since Shah made them following a BCCI AGM that he presided over as board secretary, effectively bypassing the ACC as a body.
According to a representative, such a choice cannot be made without first going via the ACC board. In fact, Pakistan’s hosting of the Asia Cup was officially announced following a meeting in March of this year, while Shah served as the ACC’s president. Although the ACC was founded in the middle of the 1980s – ironically – to maintain effective connections between Asian members, there is enough discontent within the board to consider leaving the organisation entirely as a member.
That’s not quite how things have turned out. Due to the strained relations between India and Pakistan, both Pakistan and India have previously withdrawn from prior Asia Cup tournaments, and the competition has occasionally been called off altogether. The UAE, which has hosted the competition four times total, hosted the last two seasons.
