After U-19 Asia Cup Snub, BCCI Seeks Government Clearance For 2018 Asia Cup Involving Pakistan

With the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) shifting the 2017 Under-19 Asia Cup from India to Malaysia on Pakistan’s insistence, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to seek the government’s clearance to conduct the 2018 Asia Cup, involving Pakistan.

India was due to host the Under-19 tournament in November, but with Pakistan Cricket Board calling for the tournament in India to be moved to a neutral venue, citing security fears, the ACC shifted the tournament and along with it doubts have crept in over whether Pakistan’s senior team will visit India or not for the next year’s tournament. And to make things clear, the BCCI is all set to write to the central government.

“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. “We waited for government clearance for three months and after no clarity, the ACC decided to shift the tournament to Malaysia.”

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After U-19 Asia Cup Snub, BCCI Seeks Government Clearance For 2018 Asia Cup Involving Pakistan
India recently played Pakistan in Champions Trophy

“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,” the official added.

With political tensions escalating, India and Pakistan have not played in a bilateral Test series since 2007 when Pakistan visited India for three Tests and five One-Day Internationals. They played a short series of three ODIs and two T20s in India in December 2012 but otherwise, both have faced each other only in ICC events or Asia Cup.

“Like any ICC event, Asia Cup also involves other teams and an India-Pakistan clash is unavoidable,” said the official.

The official also said that the next year’s Asia Cup, which was earlier planned for June, will now be played in the second half of the year due to rain threat.

“The rain could be a factor in June, therefore it was agreed to shift the tournament to September or October. The the final dates will be announced soon,” he said.

Meanwhile, the PCB has also initiated legal action against India for not honouring a Memorandum of Understanding which was signed between the two boards in 2014. As per the deal, the two countries were set to play six senior series between 2014-2023, subject to clearance from government. However, the Indian government has not given the green light to the BCCI to resume bilateral ties with the country from across the border. And any hope of seeing the bitter rivals resuming bilateral ties in the coming days is looking extremely bleak as of now.

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