Jay Shah, the BCCI secretary, stated that the 2023 Asia Cup may be held in a neutral location rather than in Pakistan.
The Indian cricket team will not travel to Pakistan for the 2023 Asia Cup, Asian Cricket Council chief Jay Shah announced on the sidelines of the 91st BCCI Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Mumbai on Tuesday. The 2023 Asia Cup is set to be hosted by Pakistan, and sources previously stated that the BCCI was open to sending Team India to the tournament. Shah, who is also the BCCI secretary, has stated that the 2023 Asia Cup may be held in a neutral location rather than in Pakistan.
India last visited Pakistan for a bilateral series in 2005-06, led by Rahul Dravid. Since 2012-13, when Pakistan toured India for three T20Is and as many ODIs, India and Pakistan have not played a bilateral cricket series. Both have only met in world events or the Asia Cup since then.
Matches between the two teams are always highly anticipated, with stadiums packed to capacity. Tickets for the two teams’ T20 World Cup 2022 match on October 23 sold out within hours of their release.
Pakistan has recently put on some memorable performances against India, and they even broke the World Cup jinx against India by defeating them in the T20 World Cup last year in the UAE.
Taking note of that performance, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Ramiz Raja recently stated that Team India has begun to respect Pakistan and that the Babar Azam-led side should be commended for giving India a tough fight.
“These games are more about mentality than skill and talent; even small teams can beat big teams if they have the temperament of not giving up. Pakistan have always been the underdogs heading into (World Cup) games against India, but they have started to give us respect recently. Previously, they thought Pakistan couldn’t beat them,” Raja told Dawn News.
“So we should give credit to this current Pakistan team. We defeated a billion-dollar cricket industry. I have played World Cups, but we never won against India. This team should be appreciated,” he added.
India and Pakistan most recently competed in the Asia Cup.
