Mumbai: India and Pakistan are at loggerheads over the hosting of the Asia Cup cricket. Rhetoric is taking place between the cricket officials, experts and former cricketers of both the countries.
In the midst of all this, questions have started to arise regarding the Asia Cup itself. Pakistan is to host the Asia Cup in September next year.
But recently a controversy arose over a statement by Jay Shah, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
Jay Shah is also the chairman of the Asian Cricket Council. The Asia Cup is organized by the Asian Cricket Council.
In October this year, BCCI secretary Jay Shah had said after the annual meeting of the board that the Asia Cup 2023 should be held in a third country as India cannot go to Pakistan.
After Jay Shah's statement, India's Sports Minister Anurag Thakur also said that India's decision to go to Pakistan will depend on the advice of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Controversy
The controversy over Jay Shah's statement started when Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Ramiz Raja said that if the Asia Cup was not held in Pakistan, his team would not play the Asia Cup.
Not only this, Ramiz Raja has even said that the Pakistan team can also withdraw from the ODI World Cup to be held in India.
Keep political differences aside
Ramiz Raja wants that keeping political differences aside, India should come to Pakistan next year for the Asia Cup.
He said, "You saw what happened in the World Cup. 90,000 fans gathered in Melbourne."
Ramiz Raja said, "If India and Pakistan teams are not playing, there will be no competition. I have said this many times that I have got a lot of love in India. I have also done commentary in many IPL matches. I am sure cricket fans want to see India and Pakistan."
India and Pakistan have pulled out of Asia Cup before as well
India pulled out of the second Asia Cup held in 1986. This Asia Cup was hosted by Sri Lanka.
Officially it was said that this decision was taken regarding the safety of Indian players. At that time there was a war going on in Sri Lanka between the LTTE and the army and violence was also taking place.
But experts also say that there was a lot of controversy during the 1985 tour of India. For this reason Indian cricketers also did not want to go to Sri Lanka.
The Asia Cup was to be hosted by India in 1990-91. But due to political tension with India, Pakistan withdrew from the tournament.
The competition itself was canceled in 1993 due to tensions between India and Pakistan.
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