The Asia Cup 2023 deadlock is coming to an end. With all other Asian nations supporting the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is willing to proceed with the “hybrid” Asia Cup model. However, the BCCI has proposed a new condition. It wants a written guarantee from the PCB that it will visit India in October for the World Cup 2023.
While no official decision will be made until the BCCI’s SGM on May 27, Pakistani media reported that the BCCI is prepared to soften its stance. The BCCI was adamant that the entire Asia Cup be moved out of Pakistan and played in a neutral location. However, as Pakistan responded by threatening to boycott the World Cup, the BCCI’s stance has shifted.
With Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan, among others, endorsing PCB’s new hybrid model, BCCI is poised to soften its stance. The BCCI is expected to officially accept PCB’s proposal at the Special General Meeting in Ahmedabad.
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“The situation is that India has refused to come. We had to abandon the Asia Cup. What do you want us to do? I will have floated by then the same formula to the ICC. My sense is that the ICC is not as rigidly opposed to the hybrid model. They are waiting to see how it will work out in the Asia Cup. I can’t say more than this but I think that’s the factual position,” Najam Sethi said.