Asia Cup 2023

‘The security and economic situation prevailing in Pakistan’ – Jay Shah opens up about shifting Asia Cup 2023 to Sri Lanka

Jay Shah clarified that not only the Indian Cricket Board but media rights holders and a multitude of other members of the committee were reluctant to host the Asia Cup in Pakistan.

Sep 5, 2023 8:04 pm

The Men in Blue will be facing archrivals Pakistan on September 10 during the Super Fours of the Asia Cup 2023. Notably, Pakistan was the official host of the tournament, but Indian Cricket Board officials refused to travel to Pakistan owing to the geopolitical tensions between these two countries, which forced the PCB to accept the hybrid model for hosting the Asia Cup 2023. Meanwhile, speaking on the same subject, Asian Cricket Council President and Indian Cricket Board Secretary Jay Shah has yet again opened up about why they denied playing in Pakistan.

Jay Shah clarified that not only the Indian Cricket Board but media rights holders and a multitude of other members of the committee were reluctant to host the Asia Cup in Pakistan. In addition, the cricket administrator also mentioned that there were security concerns as well as a weak economic situation in their country.

The economic situation prevailing in the Pakistan: Jay Shah

“All the full members, media rights holder, and in-stadia rights holders were initially hesitant to commit to hosting the entire tournament in Pakistan. This reluctance stemmed from concerns related to the security and economic situation prevailing in the country,” Jay Shah said in the press release.

Meanwhile, as the rain played spoilsport during the India vs. Pakistan clash on September 2 in Kandy, former PCB chief Najam Sethi slammed ACC President Jay Shah for denying his request to host the rest of the matches in the UAE over Sri Lanka. Notably, the ACC President also clarified the reason for not staging the matches in the UAE. Jay Shah reveals that the Asia Cup matches in the month of September may have caused fatigue among the players as well as injury concerns right before the ODI World Cup.

“ACC members received feedback from their respective high-performance teams, expressing concerns about playing One-day matches in the UAE in the month of September. Such a schedule could have potentially led to player fatigue and an increased risk of injuries, particularly right before the all-important ICC Cricket World Cup,” he added further.