Asia Cup 2023: Sri Lanka Offer To Host Tournament As India Continue To Oppose Pakistan Cricket Board’s Hybrid Model

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) are the official hosts of the Asia Cup 2023 event set to take place later this year but Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) refusal to travel to Pakistan has complicated the matters for the Asian Cricket Council (ACC). On Monday, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) board have offered to host the Asia Cup if ACC deems it fit.

The Asia Cup 2022 hosts could not organise the tournament in their country due to political and economic upheaval and the event was moved to Dubai last year. But with BCCI rejecting Pakistan’s ‘hybrid’ model proposal to host Asia Cup, SLC have offered to be the host as ACC get ready to take a call on the six-nation event.

“The SLC is prepared to host the Asia Cup at a short notice. The decision now is up to the ACC,” a top SLC official was quoted as saying by the Cricbuzz website on Monday.

Sri Lanka Cricket expresses interest in hosting Asia Cup 2023. (To Cricbuzz) pic.twitter.com/KfaNmYXnXP — CricketMAN2 (@ImTanujSingh) May 30, 2023

A meeting was held on the sidelines of the IPL 2023 final in Ahmedabad and the consensus between BCCI, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan cricket boards was that the tournament should be held in one venue. The BCCI continues to oppose the hybrid model proposed by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) wherein the matches are hosted in Pakistan and UAE.

“Colombo or nothing,” was how a BCCI source reacted to the talks and cited logistical inconvenience as the reason for its opposition to Cricbuzz website. “We will go with the BCCI,” added the SLC official. A formal meeting of the ACC is expected in the next few days.

It is now clear that the PCB, albeit the designated host, is not finding any takers for its proposal and is rapidly getting isolated in the ACC. Non Test members like Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) and Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) also have their presence in Ahmedabad where informal deliberations have taken place in the last few days.

It is not clear what will be the position of the PCB but their chief Najam Sethi had earlier said that Pakistan would not take part if it is not allowed to host a few games in his country. The stand-off continues but it is more than apparent that the PCB position has been considerably weakened.