If the Asia Cup gets taken away from Pakistan, maybe we are the ones that pull out – Ramiz Raja
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chief Ramiz Raja said on Friday that Pakistan might consider pulling out of Asia Cup 2023 if their tournament hosting rights are removed due to the Indian team not traveling to their country.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Ramiz Raja said on Friday that Pakistan might consider pulling out of Asia Cup 2023 if their tournament hosting rights are removed due to the Indian team not traveling to their country.
Earlier in October, BCCI secretary Jay Shah completely dismissed the speculations of Team India making a trip to Pakistan for the event and said that the Asia Cup would be held at a neutral venue.
“It is not as if we do not have hosting rights and we are pleading to host it,”
Ramiz was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo sidelines of the Pakistan-England Test in Rawalpindi.
“We won the rights fair and square. If India does not come, they would not come. If the Asia Cup gets taken away from Pakistan, maybe we are the ones that pull out,”
he added.
Earlier in November, Ramiz Raja said that if India decides to quit the Asia Cup which will be held in Pakistan next year, Pakistan will also not travel to India to participate in the 2023 50-over World Cup.
“Our position is blunt that if they (Indian team) come then we will go to the World Cup, if they do not come then let them do it. Let them play without Pakistan. If Pakistan does not participate in the World Cup scheduled in India next year, who will see it? We will adopt an aggressive approach, our team is showing performance, we have defeated the biggest business-making cricket team in the world, we have played in the final of the T20 World Cup,”
Ramiz told Pakistan media on Friday.
“I have always said that we have to improve the economy of Pakistan cricket and that will only happen when our team performs well, we have done it in the 2021 T20 World Cup. Beat India, we beat India in the Asia Cup, Pakistan cricket team has beaten the board of billion dollar economy twice in one year,”
he added.
After Shah’s statement about holding Asia Cup at a neutral venue, PCB issued a statement saying,
“The overall impact of such statements has 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.”
Following PCB’s statement, Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur said that India will host the 2023 WC with all teams.
“It is an internal matter of BCCI and it will handle the issue smartly. We have not done anything wrong yet while hosting international tournaments before. We have hosted World Cup successfully before and all teams participated happily. We will host the tournament next year and all teams will play in it,”
Thakur had said in October.
BCCI President Roger Binny also said that touring Pakistan for Asia Cup 2023 is not the board’s call, but they will rely on the government’s decision.
“That is not our call. We cannot say where our team has to go. We need to take clearance from the government if we leave the country, or other countries come here. We cannot take that decision on our own, we have to rely on the government,”
Binny had said.
However, Indian captain Rohit Sharma also said that the Men in Blue would focus on the T20 World Cup and stick to guidelines set by the apex board for cricket in India referring to BCCI secretary Jay Shah’s remarks concerning India’s travel to Pakistan for the 2023 Asia Cup.
“My focus is on World Cup. Whatever BCCI decides we will go by that,”
Rohit had said while addressing a press conference ahead of the high-voltage clash against Pakistan.