No proposal by ACC to postpone Asia Cup 2023 venue finalisation, confirms source

Contradicting media reports that Asia Cup could be postponed and a parallel tournament excluding Pakistan could be played in Dubai in the same window the Asian Cricket Council ACC sources on Monday said that they have not sent out any such proposal to the member nationsA report in Pakistan media claimed that if PCB will not agree to play Asia Cup at a neutral venue the tournament could be taken away from the countryThe hosting rights of the 2023 Asia Cup scheduled to be held in ODI format are with the Pakistan Cricket Board but BCCI secretary Jay Shah who is also the ACC chairman has made it clear that the Indian cricket team will not travel to PakistanAlso ReadShikhar Dhawan hails bowlers after PBKS wins lastball thriller Beating CSK inThe PCB has proposed to host Asia Cup on a hybrid model where Pakistan play their matches on the home soil while India play at a neutral venue in all likelihood DubaiIt is understood that the BCCI wants the entire tournament to be shifted to the UAE which has three grounds in Dubai Sharjah and Abu Dhabi much like the 2018 and 2022 editions when India and Sri Lanka were the tournament hostsThere has been exchange of messages but no discussion or proposal to postpone the Asia Cup has been floated an ACC Board member privy to discussions on the sidelines of an ICC meet in Dubai told PTI on the conditions of anonymitySecondly if the Asia Cup is cancelled PCB will be intimated first Nothing of that sort has happened till now The ACC chairman Shah hasnt yet put anything on recordTo postpone or cancel the event the ACC will have to call an Executive Board meeting The chairman Shah can call the meeting in seven days virtual or physical To date there is no intimation about any such meeting the source addedThe ACC source said that to the best of his knowledge the last official mail exchange between the PCB ACC and BCCI was an invitation sent to the Indian team with assurance of highest degree of security and best hospitalityBut obviously it is difficult for India to travel to Pakistan in the current sensitive political environment he agreedThe other issue is amount of money the official broadcaster has committed on telecast deals that includes at least two assured IndiaPakistan games If the two teams make the final the third game would be a bonanzaWe must remember the media rights and the agreement with Star Sports who have paid millions for at least two Pakistan vs India matches in the Asia Cup he saidIt is learnt that when the informal discussion was held between the ACC members about hosting the tournament at neutral venue the source confirmed that BCCI did get support from Sri Lanka Cricket SLCLook if Asia Cup is cancelled after the ACC chairman summons an Executive Board meeting the ramifications will not just be Pakistans World Cup participation but also PCBs FTP calendar and bilateral relations with Sri Lanka Afghanistan or BangladeshThe situation is still very fluid the source saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever