Fact Check: Will Jay Shah Go To Pakistan To Watch Asia Cup 2023 On Invitation Of PCB?

The Asia Cup 2023 is approaching quickly as the fans cannot wait for the six-nation tournament to begin soon. It begins with the game between Pakistan and Nepal on August 30, to be played at Multan Cricket Stadium in Multan. India's first encounter will be against arch-rivals Pakistan, which will be played in Sri Lanka's Kandy, on September 2. As per some reports, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) head Zaka Ashraf has sent an invitation to secretary of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCC) Jay Shah to come and watch a match in Pakistan. 

Also Read | Top 5 Asia Cup Records That EXCLUSIVELY Belong To Team India; In Pics

For the uninitiated, much like the governments of two countries, the relations between PCB and BCCI have not been very sweet for a while now. BCCI had earlier refused to send a team to Pakistan for Asia Cup because of security concerns. Pakistan, in return, had warned BCCI and ICC that they too won't come to India for the ICC Men's ODI World Cup in October-November. However, BCCI had its say eventually and PCB have got a green signal from their government to travel to India for the World Cup. But India are not travelling to Pakistan and will play all their Asia Cup matches in Sri Lanka, who became co-host of the tournament at the last minute.

PCB now wants to send a message to BCCI that they want good relations with them. Hence, the invitation to Shah. As per a PTI report, A PCB source said that the Pakistani board wants to maintain their stand that they won't mix sports and politics. 

News of mutual invite extended by Jay Shah & Zaka Ashraf struck the headlines yesterday. That Jay Shah had accepted coming to Pakistan during the Asia Cup matches & in turn invited, Zaka consenting to travel to India at the time of the ICC World Cup 2023. High powered people_ pic.twitter.com/ADQOGA0mOj — Rashid Latif | __ (@iRashidLatif68) July 12, 2023

“The PCB has basically followed up on the invitation which was extended verbally by Chairman Zaka Ashraf to Jay Shah when they both met in Durban for the ICC meeting,” the source said.

But has Shah accepted the alleged invitation? Is he realyl going to Pakistan? What's th truth. Let us tell you that the same source also said that PCB is now embarrassed after Pakistani media reported that Shah has flatly denied going to Pakistan.

The conflict between India and Pakistan boards has attracted attention of the former cricketers of these two countries, especially from the Men In Green. Recently, former pacer from Pakistan, Shoaib Akhtar said that he wants Pakistan to go to India and win the World Cup. He had also said that it would be fantastic to see Shaheen Afridi take wickets in his first spell at Ahmedabad and silence the 1,00,000-plus Indian crowd.

“The PCB was obviously embarrassed after the Pakistani media reported that Jay Shah had accepted Zaka Ashraf’s invitation and the Indian board official later flatly denied this,” he said.