PCB Chairman Najam Sethi threatens to pull out of Asia Cup 2018

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Najam Sethi has recently made it clear that Pakistan will not tolerate the objections of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Recently, the BCCI had raised objections over Pakistan hosting the 2018 edition of the Emerging Teams Asia Cup. The PCB had procured the rights to host the event at a recent ACC meeting in Lahore in October.

Interestingly, the officials of the BCCI had given the meeting a skip. And now, they stand amused looking at the PCB bagging rights to stage the ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup. Hence, they have objected the decision of the ACC.

Following the same, as per the reports in the Dawn, PCB Chairman Najam Sethi has threatened to pull out of Asia Cup 2018, which is scheduled to be played in India. He has remarked that if the BCCI continues to oppose Pakistan hosting the Emerging team’s tournament, then the PCB will boycott the Asia Cup 2018.

“The ACC Development Committee head and Sri Lanka Cricket chairman Thilanga Sumathipala tried to convince India and Bangladesh that they were also invited to attend the meeting [in Lahore] but they did not come. So the committee, with majority members’ votes, went on to make the decision in favour of Pakistan,” quoted Najam Sethi.

“I also raised the point that since the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is still awaiting an approval from the government to hold the Asia Cup and wants the visa clearance of all the participating teams, the PCB will decide whether to go to India or not because we are also bound by our government’s clearance,” he mentioned.

On Pakistan’s FTP

Speaking on the other lines, Najam Sethi expressed his happiness over the recently proposed FTP of the national side. As per the new FTP, Pakistan is set to play 121 matches over the next four years. “The PCB, in fact, has done a great job to earn 121 matches for the national team in the next four years and most of them are against strong cricketing nations,” Sethi quoted.

On bilateral ties with India

Najam Sethi also spoke on the ongoing battle against the BCCI with respect to the MoU signed between the two nations in 2014. As per that MoU, the two teams were set to play 6 bilateral series during 2015-2023. However, citing the political reasons, the BCCI has shown no interest in playing against Pakistan.

“If Pakistan wins the case, India will have to give us the matches and for that purpose the FTP will be changed. And if we lose, the same FTP with some minor changes may go ahead,” conceded the PCB Chief.