BCCI Writes to Indian Government Seeking Permission to Host Pakistan
Aug 18, 2017 at 3:16 PM
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has again written to the Government of India, seeking their permission to invite Pakistan for the Asia cup, that is scheduled to be held next year in the country.
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This is the second time in the year when the board has written to the government as earlier, BCCI sought a permit to invite Pakistan for the U-19 Asia Cup and at that time, no reply from Indian government resulted in the tournament being shifted out of India to Malaysia.
It was the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) that took up the matter in the Asian Council Meeting last week and had the final say in it. This time though, the BCCI has sent the proposal to the government a year ago so as to ensure that they get a clear stand on the matter.
“We had written to the government for the U-19 Asia Cup three months ago and we did not get a response. So the event had to be shifted to Malaysia. Now for the senior event, we will again write to the government as there cannot be an Asia Cup without an India or Pakistan,” a BCCI official told PTI.
“The India-Pakistan clash in the Asia Cup is the marquee clash. If that doesn’t happen, the tournament is meaningless. And let me make it clear, it is not about playing Pakistan in a bilateral event, it is a multi-team event like any ICC event,” he added.
Though earlier the Indian government has already stated their stand as Sports Minister Vijay Goel had earlier denied permission to BCCI to play any bilateral series against Pakistan. This time it’s a multilateral tournament and it will be interesting to see the stand of the Indian government.
It is to be noted that the Indian team faced Pakistan thrice in the recent times in the ICC tournaments. First, it was the Virat Kohli-led India which faced Pakistan in the league stage and in the final of ICC Champions Trophy. The third occasion came when Mithali Raj-led women team took on Pakistan in the league stage of ICC Women’s World Cup. All the three games were played in England.
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The Asia Cup is scheduled to take place in the second half of 2018. Before that tournament, India and Pakistan will face each other in Sri Lanka in the Independence Cup in the month of March.
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