“They are now in a mess,” Najam Sethi takes a dig at BCCI after HCA says it can’t host back-to-back World Cup fixtures 

Sethi says the BCCI should've let Pakistan play in a neutral country.

“They are now in a mess,” Najam Sethi takes a dig at BCCI after HCA says it can’t host back-to-back World Cup fixtures 

Ex-PCB Chairman, Najam Sethi, took a dig at the Board of Control for Cricket in India as the Hyderabad Cricket Association requested the BCCI to make changes in the World Cup schedule as they say they can’t host 2 back to back games. 

Najam Sethi went on the social media site X to say the BCCI should’ve listened to him and let the Pakistan Cricket Team play in a neutral country for the World Cup. He also thinks the BCCI is a mess as tweaks to the schedule are being proposed every few days.

YouTube video

In the upcoming Asia Cup, India will be playing all their matches in Sri Lanka and not in Pakistan. Najam Sethi himself had come up with this proposal and it has been implemented. Rumors sprung earlier in March 2023 where Sethi had said he proposed Pakistan play all their World Cup games in Bangladesh, which ICC and Sethi had declined.

Related: BCCI gets called “most incompetent cricket board” as ICC released revised ODI World Cup schedule with nine games rescheduled

Hyderabad Cricket Association says they won’t be able to provide adequate security. 

HCA has proposed a schedule change. The board shares a common worry about the safety of hosting consecutive games in quick succession.
ICC World Cup 2023 (via Indian Express)

On August 20, the Hyderabad Cricket Association requested the Board of Control for Cricket in India to make changes in the World Cup Schedule as they say they won’t be able to provide adequate security to the teams. ESPNCricinfo says that the HCA are unsure if they’ll be able to provide training in the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium to the 4 teams as well, due to the games being played back to back.

This request comes with the World Cup barely 45 days away. The BCCI had already made changes in the World Cup Schedule earlier when they changed the dates of nine matches. This included India’s game against Pakistan being held in the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The match was shifted due to the festival of Navratri being on the original date of the match. 

The Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Hyderabad is hosting 3 games, out of which 2 games are being played back-to-back. New Zealand face Netherlands on the 9th of October and the very next day Sri Lanka plays Pakistan. Sri Lanka was supposed to face Pakistan on 12th October, but that match was preponed to 10th October. 

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