According to Najam Sethi, the hybrid concept for the Asia Cup ensures that India won’t have to go to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy and that Pakistan would host its World Cup games in Dhaka.
Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Najam Sethi said on Thursday that India’s refusal to travel to Pakistan for the Asia Cup would impact the forthcoming ICC events in the region. Agreeing to move India’s games out of Pakistan by floating a new hybrid format of hosting for the Asia Cup, Sethi sees this as a precedent for the 50-over World Cup in India later this year and the 2025 Champions Trophy in Pakistan.
“If India now wants to have a neutral venue and accepts the hybrid model, then we’ll use the same hybrid model in the World Cup. Pakistan can play its World Cup matches in Dhaka or any other venue to which India agrees, and similarly in the Champions Trophy. So all the other countries can come and play in Pakistan but India can play at a neutral venue. So this is a model that goes forward and resolves this political logjam,” he told The Indian Express.
Sethi also reacted to reports that suggested that the BCCI was planning to slot the India-Pakistan World Cup game at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. “When I heard that the Pakistan match was to be in Ahmedabad, I smiled and said to myself – ‘this is one way to make sure we don’t come to India’. I mean if you’d said Chennai or Kolkata, it might have made sense,” he said.
“I don’t want to go into the politics of it but certainly there seems to be a political angle to this because if there’s one city where we might have security issues, it’s Ahmedabad. And therefore, I think the less said about that, the better. It gave the impression that this was a red herring that was thrown in our way to tell us, ‘hey, we are going to play you in Ahmedabad and you watch out. You know who rules Ahmedabad.’”
Giving details about the recent Asian Cricket Council meeting in Bahrain over the hosting of the Asia Cup in October, Sethi said that no decision has been taken so far and the members’ reaction to the hybrid model is awaited, though he went on to add that if ACC insists on a one-host model, Pakistan would withdraw.
“No decision has yet been taken about whether it will be the UAE or Sri Lanka, or it could be a third venue. We don’t know. The first question is, is the hybrid model that we’ve proposed acceptable? Are we going to play by those rules? If the ACC insists that all games are to be held at one venue, we shall not play the Asia Cup,” he said.
Sethi also added that he got along well with BCCI secretary Jay Shah, with whom he has had long conversations about India-Pakistan cricket. “I get along famously with Jay Shah, we have no real issues, we’ve had long sessions. And we are very friendly. The only problem is that he never gives me a reason for not playing in Pakistan. He just smiles and says, ‘Well, you know how the situation is, so let’s not discuss this. Let’s find other solutions.’ And then we find other solutions and this is a solution I have found – the hybrid model – which I know is a compromise,” he says.
The journalist-turned-cricket administrator said that the BCCI needs to convince the Indian government for the team to travel to Pakistan. “We at PCB tend to go to our government and persuade them to allow us to go to India. We want to play in India. But then the government gives us this political argument that looks like it needs to be reciprocal. Otherwise, you know, we’ll be criticised roundly by our critics in Pakistan. Similarly, I think the BCCI needs to stand up and go and tell the government that ‘hey, please don’t bring politics into it. This is just a game. Allow us to go to Pakistan’.”
Stressing his point about reciprocity, Sethi added: “We have come to India twice since 2008 to play matches. India has not come to Pakistan. We didn’t object because we thought yes, it’s true that the security situation in Pakistan is a problem. But in recent times, that security situation is no longer a problem and all the cricketing nations of the world have come to Pakistan in the last two-three years to play full series. India is the only country that still refuses to come to Pakistan but it cannot cite security as an issue anymore. So therefore we would like to have a reciprocal arrangement.”
