‘Excuses toh ache dhoondh lete’ – Fans react to Pakistan’s venue change request for the World Cup being rejected by Indian Cricket Board
India doesn't travel to Pakistan due to geopolitical differences.
SHARE
Jun 19, 2023 4:22 pm
Pakistan Cricket Team (Source: Twitter)
At the ODI World Cup 2023, Pakistan and Afghanistan were most likely to face off at Chennai’s MA Chidambaram Stadium. Based on reports from PTI, the squad has voiced worries about playing against this specific opponent there.
The cricket’s governing body allegedly forwarded the potential World Cup itinerary to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and inquired as to if they had any comments. According to the analytics specialists on the squad, they shouldn’t play Afghanistan under spin-friendly conditions, a source associated with the PCB told PTI.
The source also informed PTI that Pakistan was considering asking the cricket’s governing body to switch the locations of their matches against Australia (Bengaluru) and Afghanistan (Chennai). The source stated, “The PCB sent the tentative itinerary for the team to the selectors/experts who apparently are not comfortable with some of the Pakistan team’s scheduled matches and venues like they have reservations on Pakistan playing Afghanistan in Chennai and Australia at Bengaluru.”
The source further spoke about how and why the Pakistan cricket team needed this change. The source said, “The suggestion is to ask the ICC/BCCI to reschedule Pakistan’s matches and play Afghanistan in Bengaluru and Australia in Chennai to the team’s strength.”
According to an Indian Cricket Board source who spoke to PTI, the apex cricket body follows convention by asking the boards of various nations for comments on the timetable. The insider also remembered Pakistan’s request to relocate the location of their match against India during the 2016 T20 World Cup owing to security concerns.
The insider went on to say how the Pakistan team would want a compelling justification similar to that to have the location of the Afghanistan game altered. The source said, “A member board can push for a venue change due to safety reasons as Pakistan did in 2016 when they travelled to India for the T20 World Cup. If you start expressing reservations over a venue as per your team’s strengths and weaknesses on the field, then it becomes very tough to finalise the schedule. So unless there is a strong enough reason, no changes are made as far as the venues are concerned.”
It will be interesting to watch whether Pakistan gets their request. Meanwhile, it’s been announced that Babar Azam and the company will face off against India in one of the World Cup matches on October 15 in Ahmedabad.
Fans react to Pakistan’s venue change request for the World Cup being rejected by Indian Cricket Board: –
The BCCI source confirms there are unlikely to be any changes in the venues for the World Cup after Pakistan raised concerns for facing Afghanistan on spin friendly Chepauk pitch. (PTI).
Venues can be changed last moment too, just as the 2016 T20 World Cup match was shifted from Dharamsala to Kolkata. It doesn't matter what the official schedule says, Pakistan's security delegation will visit India and decide just as they did in 2016.
It is a good decision. If any country changes his venue then every other country will ask India to change their venue which wi result in a collapse of tournament. As a Pakistani saying that it was a worst decision to ask for change in venues
