Asia Cup 2023: Rajeev Shukla Opens Up His Travel To Pakistan To Attend AFG vs SL Match, Says 'Purely For Cricket, Nothing Political'

Rajeev Shukla, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Vice President, and President, Roger Binny reached Amritsar Airport to start travel to Pakistan to be present at Gadaffi Stadium in Lahore for the Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka match in Asia Cup 2023 on Tuesday (September 5th).

The two top people at BCCI will be travelling to Pakistan after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) extended an invitation to all the Asia Cricket Council (ACC) members to visit the country and attend Asia Cup 2023.

At first, the apex body of Pakistan Cricket extended an invitation to Jay Shah to visit but the BCCI General Secretary declined it and refused to travel to the neighbouring country.

Pakistan are currently hosting the Asia Cup 2023 along with Sri Lanka since India refused to travel to Pakistan since both the neighbouring countries are going through political turmoil.

India and Pakistan faced each other on Saturday (September 2nd) at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy. However, the match was ended with no result after rain spoiled the game.

In the first inning, India batted first and gave a target of 267 runs after Ishan Kishan and Hardik displayed a stunning partnership in the match. But before the second inning, the rain started to pour down and later it got abandoned.

A dinner has been hosted and three teams will be there: Rajeev Shukla

Before travelling to Pakistan, Rajeev Shukla made it clear that the visit was nothing related to politics and it is solely because of cricket.

Shukla also confirmed that both Roger Binny and Rajeev Shukla will be going on a two-day visit and a dinner has been organized by the Pakistan Cricket Board and three teams will be there, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

The vice president of the BCCI stated that they will go by the advice of the Indian government and will do what the authorities will decide.

“This two-day visit is purely from the point of view of cricket, nothing political, A dinner has been hosted and three teams will be there – Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. We will go by the advice of the government, whatever the government will decide we will do that,” Rajeev Shukla said.

In the fifth match of the Asia Cup 2023, India will play against Nepal on Monday (September 4th) at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy.