Pakistan Sports Minister renews demand of hosting entire Asia Cup, says won't come to India if demand not accepted

A day after Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif formed a high-level committee to decide on the participation of its cricket team in the upcoming world cup in India, Sports Minister of the country, Ehsaan Mazari has renewed the demand of hosting the entirety of the upcoming Asia Cup in Pakistan.

Also Read | Pakistan PM forms high-level committee to decide on national team's participation in ODI World Cup

In an interview to the Indian Express, Mazari said, “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.”

He also batted for the resumption of cricketing ties between the two countries and accused India of politicising the sport.

The ICC Cricket World Cup is scheduled in India and begins on October 5. India and Pakistan are scheduled to meet on October 15 in Ahmedabad. Pakistan had got the hosting rights of the Asia Cup 2023 but as per recent reports, the tournament will now be hosted jointly in Sri Lanka and Pakistan with India playing all its matches in Sri Lanka.

Mazari said he was unhappy with this hybrid model.

“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,” Mazari said.

Mazari also pointed out the incidents of Indian teams from other sports coming across the border to participate in tournaments.

“Some time back a huge baseball contingent from India was in Islamabad to play. There was also the bridge team that had travelled to Pakistan. There were around 60-plus people, I was the chief guest of the event. They won here and left. Pakistan’s football, hockey and chess teams also travel to India,” he said.

He also said that the security argument provided by the Indian team on not visiting their neighbouring country was not ‘solid’.

“The New Zealand team was here, before that the England cricket team was in Pakistan. They got presidential security. Earlier, the Indian team was given a hearty welcome by the fans here. Security is an excuse. We also held the Pakistan Super League (PSL) that had so many foreign players,” he said.

He also said that Ahmedabad hosting the India-Pakistan game is a non-issue and that they have played in the city before.

The report of the high-level committee which will look into Pakistan’s participation in the World Cup will be out next week as per the report. An ICC meeting will also be held in South Africa with both the PCB chief and BCCI secretaries in attendance. The meeting will have discussions on topics of hosting both tournaments.