The suspense over Asia Cup 2023 remains but the uncertainty has reportedly strained the relationship between the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC).
SLC have reportedly offered to host the entire Asia Cup after BCCI said it won’t send its team to Pakistan for the continental tournament. The proposal has not gone down well with the PCB as per a report in news agency PTI.
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PCB has turned down SLC’s offer to play an ODI series in Sri Lanka in build-up to the ODI World Cup slated to be held in October-November this year.
The Sri Lankan team will play in the world cup qualifiers in Zimbabwe and a confident SLC expects its team to make the cut. Therefore, the board was hoping to provide their players more exposure ahead of the marquee event.
“An example of the increasingly strained relations between the two boards emerged after the PCB turned down a proposal by the Lankans to play a few One-Day International matches next month in Sri Lanka,” PCB source was quoted as saying by PTI on Saturday.
“It is a clear indication that the PCB is not happy with the Sri Lankan board stepping in to offer to host the Asia Cup in September when it is Pakistan’s turn to host the regional event at home,” the source added.
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PCB chairman Najam Sethi is reportedly not happy with how the cricket boards of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan have reacted to his ‘hybrid model’ that would’ve seen India playing their Asia Cup matches at a neutral venue while other teams played in Pakistan.
“Sethi expected Sri Lanka with whom Pakistan has long had friendly relations, Bangladesh and Afghanistan to convince the Indian Cricket Board and other Asian Cricket Council board members to go with the proposal put by Sethi and at least play three to four games in Pakistan of the Asia Cup before moving the tournament elsewhere,” the source said.
“He is disappointed at the way things have panned out in recent days specially when some of these board heads went to India for the IPL final and met with the BCCI secretary Jay Shah,” the source added.
The report further claims that PCB is mulling over taking strong decisions should BCCI not change its stance over Asia Cup.
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