Sources in the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have rubbished rumours of Pakistan having confirmed their World Cup participation to the International Cricket Council (ICC). Terming it ‘fake news’, the PCB officials said that things remained as they were, and there has been no development whatsoever. Pakistan is awaiting formal confirmation from the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) on its proposed hybrid model for hosting the Asia Cup, and has insisted that it is the government that will decide whether the team travels to India for the World Cup in October-November 2023.
This is now a wait-and-watch game. Who blinks first is the question? Will the ACC agree to the second hybrid model, which has suggested that four matches of the Asia Cup be played in Pakistan and the rest at a neutral venue? Will the ACC’s decision, given it is headed by the BCCI’s Jay Shah, have an impact on the World Cup? Will Pakistan use the government’s stance as a reason to not play in India, thus pushing the ICC into a corner? What will then happen to the ICC’s broadcast arrangement with its partners, and will they then be forced to try and sue the PCB?
With elections scheduled in Pakistan later this yet, we don’t even know as yet who’ll be making the big decisions. So, none of the questions raised earlier can be answered yet. Some of these issues could also come up during the BCCI Special General Meeting on May 27 in Ahmedabad, ahead of the IPL final.
Suffice to say, we haven’t seen the end of this controversy yet.