Pakistan’s cricket chiefs are currently running from pillar to post to save the country’s right to host this year’s Asia Cup, a continental tournament featuring the top cricket-playing nations of Asia. Pakistan is supposed to stage the event in September and has assured fool-proof security measures to all participating teams. Yet there are slim chances that it will be able to host the contest as the powerful Indian cricket board (BCCI) has refused to send its team to Pakistan. India is not only refusing to play in Pakistan but it is also using its financial muscle to keep other participating nations like Sri Lanka and Bangladesh to stay away from the tournament. And there should be no doubts that India is doing all this for purely political reasons — domestic political reasons, at that. Despite immense pressure from the highly influential BCCI, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has quite commendably stood its ground. It has strongly defended its right to host the Asia Cup on Pakistan soil, rejecting any claims that there were security fears in this country.
In recent years, almost all top-tier cricket teams — apart from India — have played Tests and limited-overs games in Pakistan. Over the years, the BCCI has been refusing to play here on the pretext that its government doesn’t allow the Indian team to play against Pakistan apart from major ICC events like the World Cup. The issue has escalated to the extent that the PCB has threatened to boycott the 2023 World Cup to be hosted by India in Oct-Nov this year. In the interest of international cricket, it is critical that this issue is resolved amicably. And the onus for that is on India. While the BCCI chiefs continue to adopt a highly rigid stance on the Asia Cup, their Pakistani counterparts have shown plenty of flexibility. Najam Sethi, the PCB chief, has put forward several hybrid models to save the Asia Cup. The latest proposed model, if approved, will see a mere four Asia Cup games played on Pakistani soil. The remaining part of the contest will move to a neutral venue (PCB wants it to be the UAE). The Indians won’t have to visit Pakistan.
In a nutshell, the PCB has made the BCCI an offer it can’t refuse. But if it does then Pakistan should be ready to give a tit-for-tat response. In the recent past, the PCB has threatened to pull out of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) which governs the Asia Cup. It has also talked about boycotting the World Cup in India if it’s deprived of Asia Cup hosting rights. The PCB should be prepared to follow through on these threats if the BCCI continues to openly treat Pakistan like a mortal enemy. That said, for the sake of world cricket one hopes that better sense prevails and Pakistan isn’t forced to take this extreme option. Given how India has been behaving with respect to Pakistan — in an immature, petulant way — at other forums (the SCO comes to mind), optimism regarding India’s response is tough to hold on to. Here’s hoping Modi’s administration finds some way to not completely ruin the situation.