The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on August 18 invited Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary and Asian Cricket Council (ACC) President Jay Shah to attend the opening match of Asia Cup 2023 between the hosts and Nepal on August 30 at Multan.
Along with Shah, the PCB said that it has also extended the invitation to heads of other boards who are part of ACC. However, a source in the PCB revealed that the invitation was a mere formality as Shah is unlikely to visit Pakistan.
“The PCB has basically followed up on the invitation which was extended verbally by Chairman Zaka Ashraf to Jay Shah when they both met in Durban for the ICC meeting,” the source told PTI.
Earlier, Pakistan media had reported that Shah will come to attend the Asia Cup 2023 opener but the BCCI secretary falsified the reports.
“The PCB was obviously embarrassed after the Pakistani media reported that Jay Shah had accepted Zaka Ashraf’s invitation and the Indian board official later flatly denied this,” he said.
The source further said that the intention behind extending the invitation was a gesture to highlight that the board does not mix sports with politics.
“The idea is to basically highlight Pakistan’s chosen stance on cricket relations with India that it does not mix politics with sports,” the source added.
Only three group stage matches and one Super Fours match will be played on Pakistan soil including Pakistan vs Nepal on August 30, Bangladesh vs Afghanistan at Lahore on September 3, and Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka at Lahore on September 5.
After facing Nepal, Babar Azam-led Pakistan will take on Rohit Sharma's India at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium on September 2. While PCB has announced Pakistan's squad for the event, BCCI is yet to announce the squad. Meanwhile, there is a question mark over Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul’s return. Both the batters are at the National Cricket Academy (NCA), Bengaluru playing practice matches and completing their rehabilitation.
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