The Indian cricket board has demanded a change in the venue for the 2020 Asia Cup after Pakistan won the hosting rights for the next edition of the tournament.
According to a report, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said that there is no question of playing in Pakistan and asked the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to make an alternative arrangement.
The PCB is yet to decide the venue for the tournament.
No BCCI representative turned up for the Asian Cricket Council’s annual meeting in Lahore, the report claimed.
India had hosted this year’s Asia Cup in the United Arab Emirates.
On Thursday, Pakistan earned the rights to host 2020 Asia Cup for the first time in over a decade, but it is not clear yet whether the tournament will be played in the country or the UAE.
Ties between the two countries are at a low ebb, neither side having played a full bilateral series against the other in over a decade and India not having played in Pakistan since June 2008. Tensions remain between their boards too, most recently in the dismissal of the PCB claim that the BCCI “legally breached” an agreement to play bilateral series in 2014 and 2015.
The 2008 visit, incidentally, was also for the Asia Cup, and the last time Pakistan held a multi-nation competition. The PCB is yet to clarify the question regarding where the tournament will be staged.
Since the Lahore terror attacks on the Sri Lankan team in 2009, international cricket has slowly returned to Pakistan. In the last year, Lahore has hosted T20Is against Sri Lanka and a World XI while West Indies played a series in Karachi in April this year. Added to are the staging of several high-profile PSL games in both cities over the last two seasons, with the involvement of foreign players.
Meanwhile, German envoy Martin Kobler has congratulated Pakistan on getting hosting rights of Asia Cup 2020. He expressed gratitude that Cricket is coming back to Pakistan.
In his Twitter message, he said, “Congratulations #Pakistan to be the 2020 host of the next #asiacup. Good to see that international #cricket returned to Pakistan this year!”
