Asia Cup 2023: With rain playing spoilsport, PCB questions selection of Sri Lanka as co-host

The Asia Cup, initially awarded to Pakistan alone as the host, was eventually readjusted to make Sri Lanka as a co-host after BCCI refused to travel to Pakistan.

Alleging that it took ACC (which is led by president Jay Shah) 27 minutes after moving the tournament to Hambantota for a volte-face and sticking to Colombo, Ashraf demanded ACC to compensate for the loss of gate receipts. | Photo Credit: PTI

Merciless rain may have prevented a lot of action on the field during the Asia Cup in India but there is no dearth of action off it.

Especially with the squabble between Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB’s) former and current chiefs and the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) president Jay Shah, who is also the secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) over scheduling issues.

The Asia Cup itinerary was finalised after a prolonged dispute between PCB, the tournament host, and BCCI. Soon after the Asia Cup was awarded to Pakistan last year, the BCCI refused to travel to Pakistan, citing security reasons.

With the BCCI sticking to its stand, the PCB had initially proposed the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as a co-host for the hybrid model. But with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh opposing UAE due to severe heat in September, PCB was forced to settle for Sri Lanka as co-host.

On Tuesday, Najam Sethi, the former PCB chief, took to social media and squarely blamed Shah for preferring Sri Lanka - despite the weather threat. “Only Mr. Shah can explain why these options were rejected and why Sri Lanka was accommodated against all reason, logic, and rationality,” he wrote on X.

In response, Shah - as the ACC president - issued a statement. “All the full members, media rights holders, and in-stadia rights holders were initially hesitant to commit to hosting the entire tournament in Pakistan.

“This reluctance stemmed from concerns related to the security and economic situation prevailing in the country,” Shah said, adding that “several leadership changes” in PCB resulted in back-and-forth negotiations.

On Wednesday evening, Zaka Ashraf, the incumbent PCB chief, alleged an “arbitrary decision” by ACC to stick to Colombo as the venue for Super Four games despite having agreed earlier to move the games to Hambantota.

Alleging that it took ACC 27 minutes after moving the tournament to Hambantota for a volte-face and sticking to Colombo, Ashraf demanded ACC to compensate for the loss of gate receipts.

“Who will be responsible for the loss of gate receipts to the PCB and the adverse impact on the ACC Event’s brand value should the matches be rained out in Colombo? The ACC will have to take responsibility for the washed-out matches, and incremental costs if any, and also reimburse PCB for the losses of gate revenue,” Ashraf wrote.