Asia Cup: Zaka Ashraf, the new potential chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, has rejected the hybrid model of the Asia Cup to be held in September. This hybrid model was suggested by Najam Sethi, former chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, according to which Pakistan as well as Sri Lanka had the opportunity to host the tournament. Now it has become a conflict-like situation between PCB and BCCI as Zaka Ashraf has said in one of his statements that he rejects this hybrid model. Along with this, whether Pakistan will now play in the ODI World Cup or not is also difficult. Because of all this, now the possibility of organizing the Asia Cup seems almost non-existent.
In a press conference on Wednesday 21 June 2023, Zaka Ashraf said “The first point is that I have rejected the hybrid model for the Asia Cup before – because I do not agree with it. The Asian Cricket Council had decided that it The tournament should be held in Pakistan, then we should host it.”
Due to this absurd statement of Zaka Ashraf, Pakistan’s chances of playing in the World Cup may also hang in the balance and it is expected that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will also take a tough stand against it. If the Pakistan Cricket Board backtracks from the consensus reached with the members of the ACC (Asian Cricket Board), then there will be no other way out.
The hybrid model has been approved by the ACC executive body, if Zaka Ashraf doesn’t change his statement, Asia Cup can be organized as just a 5-nation tournament without Pakistan. A member of the ACCI board said, “ACC has accepted the Asia Cup model and there will be no change in it now. Ashraf is free to say anything.”
Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, who is the patron-in-chief of the board, is the final decision-maker in the appointment. He chose two candidates for the post of PCB chairman, one of whom is Zaka Ashraf, Ashraf’s appointment has not yet been fully sealed, so at the moment, it can be called a mere formality. The BCCI and ACC President Jay Shah had already accepted the hybrid model when the Indian government made it clear that it would not play in Pakistan due to the current geopolitical situation.
In the Asia Cup hybrid model, it was decided that four matches of the Asia Cup would be held in Pakistan, in which Pakistan and Nepal would play group league matches and the other three matches involving Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan would also be held in Lahore, Pakistan.
Zaka Ashraf, who is a banker by profession, has also been the PCB chairman in the past. Talking to the media, Zaka Ashraf said that he does not like the idea of hosting unimportant games in the country even after our country has got hosting rights. He said “All the main matches (of Pakistan) are being moved out. Teams like Nepal and Bhutan will play in Pakistan, which is absolutely not fair. I don’t know what decision the board has taken earlier, I am not aware of that.” He further said, “I will investigate, do whatever is possible in the shortest possible time, for the good of Pakistan.”
Zaka Ashraf has also said that the issue of World Cup 2023 is yet to be resolved, due to which there could be further delay in releasing the schedule. He said, “Pakistan has challenges, there are pending issues like Asia Cup, then there is World Cup, there are issues of team preparation, I don’t want to speak against anyone because I haven’t done that yet.” He went on to say, “Once I take charge, I will see how the situation is. I always take the media along, I don’t hide anything. We have to work for the betterment of Pakistan, we clearly know.”
It is believed that BCCI and ICC will not accept Pakistan’s request to play World Cup 2023 matches at a neutral venue at any cost and now Zaka Ashraf’s absurdly tough statement on Asia Cup can spoil relations. . Interestingly, when the last bilateral series between India and Pakistan took place in 2012, the same Ashraf was the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board.
