‘Whatever the format, we are interested to play in Asia Cup’

Final decisions regarding the venue and the format of the Asia Cup 2023 are yet to be fixed but Jalal Yunus, Chairman of the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s Cricketing Operations Committee, said on Monday that they are interested to play the tournament whatever the format may be.

The Asia Cup is scheduled to be held between September 2-17. As this is the year of the ICC One-Day International World Cup, the Asia Cup will also be played in the 50-overs format. However, decisions regarding the venue and the format of the tournament are still pending, even though Pakistan hold the hosting rights of the tournament.

India has pledged objections to going to Pakistan for the tournament and wants the tournament to be shifted to another venue. Pakistan Cricket Board are not willing to move the tournament out of their country. Final decisions are set to be made after the meeting between Asian Cricket Council President Jay Shah and PCB Chairman Najam Sethi.

Pakistan has proposed a hybrid model for the tournament, the decisions will be made after the meeting after discussing with the board presidents of Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan.

Amidst the confusion, Jalal Yunus said, “Whatever going on in the issue, decisions are not final yet. We are waiting for the official word from the ACC because they will inform us about the decisions, venues, and formats. So, we are waiting.”

Regarding the latest hybrid model that was proposed, he said, “We want to play the tournament. We are waiting for a decision that will be made after discussing with all the members of the ACC. Whatever the model is, we are interested in playing the tournament, be it a hybrid model or anything else.”

If the proposed hybrid model implies, the venue of the tournament might shift to UAE or Sri Lanka. The weather in UAE during the scheduled time of the tournament usually remains hotter. When asked, if it would be difficult to play in the conditions of UAE, Mr Chairman said they did not want to play cricket in UAE during this part of the year.