The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has set a deadline for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to confirm their for participation in the Asia Cup to be held in September next year until June 2020.
PCB CEO Wasim Khan said that they will see if India arrives to Pakistan for the tournament.
Its worth mentioning that the 2018 edition was originally scheduled in India but following the political difference with Pakistan, the tournament was shifted to United Arab Emirates.
“We need to see if India agrees to come to Pakistan for the Asia Cup. There is still some time till next year’s September but by June, we have to know where we are going with this and if it can’t be hosted here because of a lack of involvement of India,” PCB CEO Wasim Khan said in an interview.
The final decision to move the tournament is in the hands of Asian Cricket Council but Khan noted that they are ready to host India.
“But that is a decision for the Asian Cricket Council and ICC to make. We are ready to have India in the Asia Cup,” Khan added.
He, however, acknowledged the problems with hosting India in the bilateral cricket series during the current tense relationship between the two neighboring countries. The revokation of article 370 from Kashmir has raised immense tension between the two countries in diplomatic terms.
“Board to board level, we share a good relation with India but they have a lot of government interference and we can’t keep on running after them to play a bilateral series. If they want to play they will have to tell us and give us a firm commitment. We have no issues playing at a neutral venue,” Khan said.
2020 Asia Cup to be in T20 format
The 2018 edition of the tournament was played in 50 over format, considering the 2019 World Cup. However, this time the tournament will be contested in 20 over format as T20 World Cup will also be held in 2020 and the Asian teams will get a good practise before the start of the tournament.
