Last Updated on 2 years by Charbel Coorey

Cricket News: BCCI, PCB to tussle over Asia Cup venue at ACC meeting | Will India travel to Pakistan for the 2023 Asia Cup?

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will square off against the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in a meeting of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) on February 4. The two boards are engaged in a tussle regarding the upcoming edition of the Asia Cup that is slated to be held in Pakistan in September this year.

However, BCCI secretary Jay Shah, who is also the son of Union Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah, had declared last year that the tournament will be shifted to a neutral venue as India cannot travel to Pakistan. Shah is also the president of the ACC. The PCB had back then hit back by threatening to pull out of the ODI Men’s World Cup that will take place in India shortly after the Asia Cup.

Najam Sethi, the new PCB chair, had taken legal action against the BCCI in his previous tenure by taking the Indian board to the ICC for allegedly dishonouring an agreement to play bilateral series in 2014 and 2015. However, the dispute resolution committee of the ICC ordered the PCB to pay the BCCI a humungous fine back then as the aforementioned agreement contained only a moral obligation and not a legal one to play the series.

Interestingly, Sethi has clarified that the PCB will not be engaging in any legal battle this time around.

“We have to look at what we can do but we can’t [fight] another case, but I can say that that case wasn’t handled properly and I think we didn’t give a good fight. But eventually, even judges said that if you look through the microscope this case is in favour of Pakistan but if you see this case with a telescope this is going in India’s favour,” Sethi was quoted in a report by ESPN Cricinfo.

He added, “So in nutshell, with all the nitty-gritty it’s Pakistan’s case, but then their stance was that it’s the [Indian] government which isn’t allowing us [to tour Pakistan].” Sethi further asserted that he will not be divulging his plans for the meeting – mentioning that his stance will align with the ‘interests of Pakistan’. India last travelled to Pakistan for a cricketing assignment for the 2008 edition of the Asia Cup.