New Delhi: There has been a controversy over the venue of the Asia Cup and the World Cup for the past few months. However, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) faced both the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and then the ICC. The Asia Cup will be held at a neutral venue despite Pakistan’s opposition. However, keeping in mind its hybrid model, four matches will be played in Pakistan. The remaining matches will be played in Sri Lanka.
After India’s decision not to go to Pakistan in the Asia Cup, now there is constant grumbling from the PCB and their government. He is threatening not to tour India in the World Cup. First Ramiz Raja, then Najam Sethi and now Sports Minister of Pakistan has threatened not to come to India. He says that if BCCI continues to demand Asia Cup to be held at a neutral venue, we too will not go to India for the ODI World Cup.
Pakistan Sports Minister Ahsan Mazari said in an interview that this is my personal opinion. Since the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) comes under my ministry, if India demands to play its Asia Cup matches at neutral venues, we will demand the same for our World Cup matches in India. Mazari’s statement came as Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday constituted a high-level committee to conduct all sorts of checks before deciding to send the team to India.
Majari said- External Affairs Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will head the committee and I am among the 11 ministers who are part of it. We will discuss the issue and give our recommendations to the PM, who is also the Patron-in-Chief of PCB. The final decision will be taken by the Prime Minister.” The minister has made absurd allegations targeting the BCCI. He said that India’s reluctance to play cricket in Pakistan bothered him.
BCCI expressed concern about the security of its team in Pakistan. Speaking on this, Majari gave examples of other teams that have toured their country. He said – New Zealand team came here. Before that England cricket team was in Pakistan. He has got the security of the President. Before that, the Indian team was given a warm welcome by the fans here. Security is just an excuse. We also organized the Pakistan Super League, which had many foreign players. Apart from this, Majari said that India brings sports into politics. I don’t understand why the Indian government doesn’t want to send its cricket team here. Mazari’s statement is being called nonsense because not only India but many countries have accused him of promoting terrorism.
ICC said that all the teams participating in the World Cup are bound by the rules and regulations of their country and we also respect them. However, we are sure that Pakistan will definitely come to India to play the World Cup. Let us tell you that the ODI World Cup is going to start with the match between England and New Zealand from October 5 in Ahmedabad. India will play their first match against Australia on October 8. Along with this, Pakistan has to play the first two matches against Netherlands and Sri Lanka.