Asia Cup 2023: PCB proposes hybrid model to conduct India matches at neutral venue - Najam Sethi

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has proposed that India can play its 2023 Asia Cup matches at a neutral venue while Pakistan and other competing teams play in the host country, its chief Najam Sethi revealed on Friday. Sethi said it had sent a proposal to the Asian Cricket Council (ACC).

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) refused to travel to Pakistan due to political tension between the two nations. It demanded the shifting of the continental tournament to a neutral venue. "We have decided on this hybrid model that Pakistan plays its Asia Cup matches at home and India their matches at a neutral venue, and that is our proposal to the Asian Cricket Council," said Sethi, who took over as the PCB chairman from former cricketer Ramiz Raja, during a press conference.

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The Asia Cup, involving six teams, will be played from September 2 to 17, though the exact schedule of matches is yet to be announced due to uncertainty over the venue. Besides Pakistan and India, the other competing countries are Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and one team which will emerge from the ACC qualifiers. The qualifying tournament is underway in Nepal.

Sethi hoped that visiting his country's foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari next month to the Indian coastal city of Goa for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation's (SCO) Council meeting will help thaw relations between the two nations. "We have been told that, maybe, the ice will keep on melting. If this happens when the [ICC] Champions Trophy is held in Pakistan in 2025, India would consider playing in Pakistan. We have been advised to play the Asia Cup at a neutral venue and go to India for the World Cup," said Sethi, but did not say precisely who advised them.

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Sethi indicated the public mood in his country is that Pakistan should play cricket with India on level terms. "Our government has imposed no restrictions about playing against India. But, I can say right now that the public mood is we are not needy and can stand on our own feet financially and want to play cricket with India honourably. We are also negotiating with the ACC," Sethi said.

The PCB chairman, however, needed to specify who in the government was advising the PCB on the issue. Sethi said that if Pakistan decides to shift all India matches in the Asia Cup to a neutral venue, the neighbours should apply the same hybrid experiment during the ICC World Cup in October-November this year.

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India is hosting the 2023 ICC World Cup, and there is talk across the border that Pakistan's matches be moved to neutral venues. "We feel this hybrid experiment can also be applied when it is time for the World Cup. Our stance is that everything should be on a reciprocal basis. In the old times, yes, there were security issues in Pakistan. But now there are no issues, so what is India's excuse for not playing in Pakistan," Sethi said.

The ACC, led by BCCI secretary Jay Shah, is yet to respond to the PCB about the proposed hybrid model. Reports say the other ACC members also want the Asia Cup to be held at a neutral venue to save costs even though Pakistan will remain the tournament host.