Pakistan To Wait Till June 2020 For India's Confirmation On Participating In Asia Cup

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has set a deadline of June 2020 for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to confirm their participation in the upcoming Asia Cup. The tournament will take place on September 2020, months ahead of the ICC World T20 in Australia.

India and Pakistan have been at loggerheads at several levels and the relations have hit rock bottom after the Pulwama attack earlier this year. The last time both teams met was in 2012 where they played three ODIs and two T20Is.

In June 2014, BCCI and PCB penned an agreement to play six bilateral series but due to growing political tensions, they haven’t played any. Although India and Pakistan have not played any bilateral series, they have gone up against each other in ICC events or multi-nations tournament.

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With Pakistan hosting the upcoming Asia Cup in 2020, India have denied going to the country upon government’s pressure. And now with less than a year left, PCB CEO Wasim Khan has set a deadline for the BCCI to take a call on their participation.

“We need to see if India agrees to come to Pakistan for the Asia Cup. There is still some time till next year’s September but by June, we have to know where we are going with this and if it can’t be hosted here because of a lack of involvement of India,” Wasim said.

Wasim Khan also added that they are ready to host the neighbouring country in the Asia Cup. However, the final decision to shift the tournament will be Asian Cricket Council and International Cricket Council’s prerogative.

“But that is a decision for the Asian Cricket Council and ICC to make. We are ready to have India in the Asia Cup,” Khan said.

In conclusion, PCB CEO Wasim Khan said that they have no problem in playing India in neutral venues. He also added that they share a good relation with BCCI but due to government’s intervention, it is not possible for them to host any series as of now.