IND vs PAK ICC Cricket World Cup 2023: Pakistan’s Minister of Sports, Ehsaan Mazari, has sent a stern warning to its Indian counterparts and reiterated that no IND vs PAK game will take place in India during the upcoming Men’s ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 if BCCI doesn’t send its team across the border for Asia Cup 2023.
This comes weeks after the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) announced that the continental event will be jointly co-hosted by Pakistan and Sri Lanka after BCCI expressed its inability to send their team across the border citing denial of permission from the Indian government.
“My personal opinion, since the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) comes under my ministry, is that if India demands to play their Asia Cup games at a neutral venue, we would also demand the same for our World Cup games in India,” Mazari told The Indian Express.
As per the schedule, four matches will be held in Pakistan during Asia Cup while nine in Sri Lanka.
India, Pakistan and Nepal have been grouped together while Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Bangladesh are in the second group.
Mazari is against the hybrid model which will see India playing all their games in Sri Lanka. “Pakistan is the host, it has the right to hold all the matches in Pakistan. That is what the cricket lovers want, I don’t want a hybrid model,’ he said.
Earlier this week, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif formed a committee, headed by foreign minister Bilal Bhutto Zardari, to discuss their cricket team’s participation in the 2023 ODI World Cup scheduled to be held in India from October 5.
“The committee will be headed by Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and I am among the 11 ministers who are part of it. We will discuss the issue and give our recommendations to the PM, who is also the patron-in-chief of PCB. The PM will take the final decision,” Mazari said.
He also accused India of mixing sports and politics and brushed aside the security concerns citing the recent examples of international teams traveling to Pakistan.
No IND vs PAK game in ICC Cricket World Cup 2023
Ehsaan Mazari further said that if India doesn’t come to Pakistan for the Asia Cup 2023, the same would be done to them as they host the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023.
“My personal opinion, since the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) comes under my ministry, is that if India demands to play their Asia Cup games at a neutral venue, we would also demand the same for our World Cup games in India,” said Ehsaan Mazari.
Although the ICC has released the complete schedule for the World Cup 2023, Pakistan is yet to confirm whether it will participate or not. The PCB has now left the decision to travel to India in the hands of the 11-member committee formed recently.
The new PCB chief Zaka Ashraf will be in South Africa in the coming days to attend an important ICC meeting. BCCI secretary Jay Shah will also be present there and discussions on Asia Cup 2023 and the ICC World Cup 2023 are likely to be held.
As per the schedule of World Cup 2023, the most anticipated IND vs PAK game is set to be held on 15th October at the iconic Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad. The two sides last met during the ICC T20 World Cup 2023 in Australia, where India emerged triumphant.