Pakistan may pull out of Asia Cup: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Ramiz Raja

RAWALPINDI: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Ramiz Raja said on Friday that Pakistan may consider pulling out of Asia Cup 2023 if their tournament hosting rights are withdrawn due to the Indian team not travelling to their country.

Earlier in October, BCCI secretary Jay Shah completely dismissed the speculations of Team India travelling to Pakistan for the event and said that the Asia Cup would be held at a neutral venue. "It is not as if we do not have hosting rights and we are pleading to host it," Ramiz was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo sidelines of the Pakistan-England Test in Rawalpindi.

"We won the rights fair and square. If India does not come, they would not come. If the Asia Cup gets taken away from Pakistan, maybe we are the ones that pull out," he added.

Earlier in November, Ramiz Raja said that if India chooses to opt out of the Asia Cup which will be held in Pakistan next year, Pakistan will also not travel to India to participate in the 2023 50-over World Cup.

"Our position is blunt that if they (Indian team) come then we will go to the World Cup, if they do not come then let them do it. Let them play without Pakistan. If Pakistan does not participate in the World Cup scheduled in India next year, who will see it? We will adopt an aggressive approach, our team is showing performance, we have defeated the biggest business-making cricket team in the world, we have played in the final of the T20 World Cup," Ramiz told Pakistan media on Friday.

"I have always said that we have to improve the economy of Pakistan cricket and that will only happen when our team performs well, we have done it in the 2021 T20 World Cup. Beat India, we beat India in the Asia Cup, Pakistan cricket team has beaten the board of billion dollar economy twice in one year," he added.

After Shah's statement about holding Asia Cup at a neutral venue, PCB issued a statement saying, "The overall impact of such statements has 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." (IANS)

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