BCCI, PCB to face off in Bahrain over Asia Cup dispute in emergency meeting

The BCCI had previously pulled itself out of playing a bilateral series in 2014 and 2015. PCB chairman Najam Sethi was in power back then, and he took a legal route against the Indian board but lost the case.

BCCI, PCB to face off in Bahrain over Asia Cup dispute in emergency meeting

BCCI, PCB to face off in Bahrain over Asia Cup dispute in February 4 meeting

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) are set to face off at Asia Cricket Council’s (ACC) meeting on February 4 in Bahrain. The two boards will talk over the dispute surrounding the hosting of Asia Cup 2023 in Pakistan after BCCI secretary Jay Shah’s claim of hosting the event outside Pakistan at a neutral venue.

The Pakistan board criticized BCCI for trying to snatch their hosting rights in a “unilateral” manner without previous discussion on the matter in a board meeting. For this, PCB announced an emergency meeting in the next month. Meanwhile, Jay Shah is also the president of the ACC.

During the tenure of former PCB chairman Ramiz Raza, Shah had said that the Asia Cup, which is scheduled to start in September this year, will be hosted at a neutral venue, after a BCCI board meeting last October. The reason was that India could not travel to Pakistan.

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PCB had to pay a hefty sum to BCCI

BCCI PCB
IND vs PAK

The BCCI had previously pulled itself out of playing a bilateral series in 2014 and 2015. PCB chairman Najam Sethi was in power back then, and he took a legal route against the Indian board but lost the case. The International Cricket Council’s (ICC) dispute resolution committee declared that the agreement between the two boards did not carry a legal obligation but a “moral obligation”. For this, PCB had to pay a hefty sum to the BCCI.

“We have to look at what we can do but we can’t [fight] another case, but I can say that that case wasn’t handled properly and I think we didn’t give a good fight. But eventually, even judged said that if you look through the microscope this case is in favor of Pakistan but if you see this case with a telescope this is going in India’s favor,” Sethi said in a press conference.

“So in nutshell, with all the nitty-gritty it’s Pakistan’s case, but then their stance was that it’s the [Indian] government which isn’t allowing us [to tour Paksitan],” he added.

Meanwhile, Pakistan and India last locked horns in the 2012-2013 bilateral series when Pakistan toured India. Since then, the two arch-rivals haven’t clashed against each other apart from Asia Cup and the ICC events. Pakistan last played a match in India in 2016 for the T20 World Cup. Men in Blue have not played a game in Pakistan since 2008.

It’s worth noting Pakistan were to host the 2022 Asia Cup tournament (it was postponed from 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic). But Sri Lanka was given the rights, and it hosted in UAE.

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