Abhinav Kumar Singh 
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has strongly reacted to the BCCI secretary and Asian Cricket Council (ACC) president Jay Shah’s statement that India won’t be travelling to Pakistan for the Asia Cup 2023 and to be moved out of Pakistan to a neutral venue.
In its first official response to Shah’s statement that India would like to play the 2023 Asia Cup at a neutral venue and not tour Pakistan, the PCB said “such statements can spilt the Asian and international cricket communities” and impact Pakistan’s visit to India for the 2023 World Cup.
The PCB’s statement read: “The PCB has noted with surprise and disappointment yesterday’s comments made by the ACC President Mr Jay Shah with regards to shifting of next year’s Asia Cup to a neutral venue. The comments were made without any discussion or consultation with the Board of the Asian Cricket Council or the Pakistan Cricket Board (event host) and without any thoughts towards their long-term consequences and implications.”
“After having presided over the ACC meeting during which Pakistan was awarded the ACC Asia Cup with an overwhelming support and response from the ACC Board Members, Mr Shah’s statement of shifting of the ACC Asia Cup has clearly been made unilaterally. This is contrary to the philosophy and spirit for which the Asian Cricket Council was formed in September 1983 – a united Asian cricket body to safeguard the interests of the its Members and organise, develop, and promote the game of cricket in Asia,” the statement added.
“The overall impact of such statements have the potential to split the Asian and international cricketing communities, and can impact Pakistan’s visit to India for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 and future ICC Events in India in the 2024-2031 cycle,” it added.
“The PCB has to date not received any official communication from the ACC on the statement of the ACC President. As such, the PCB has written to the ACC to convene an emergency meeting of its Board as soon as practically possible on this important and sensitive matter,” the statement concluded.
