ACC refutes PCB chief Najam Sethi’s comments on Jay Shah’s ‘unilateral’ schedule announcement

The Asian Cricket Council refuted Sethi’s claims in its statement and said that it had “followed well-established and due process” in creating the annual calendar.

The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) led by BCCI secretary Jay Shah (L) has refuted PCB chairman Najam Sethi’s (R) criticism of the ACC 2023-24 calendar acnnouncement. | Photo Credit: AP

The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) on Friday issued a statement to deny the social media comments made by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Najam Sethi in response to its annual schedule announcement.

ACC president and BCCI secretary Jay Shah had earlier announced the ACC Calendar 2023-24 and the pathway structure through his Twitter handle on Thursday,

Sethi responded to Shah’s announcement with a tweet that read: “Thank you @JayShah for unilaterally presenting @ACCMedia1 structure & calendars 2023-24 especially relating to Asia Cup 2023 for which is the event host. While you are at it, you might as well present structure & calendar of our PSL 2023! A swift response will be appreciated.”

The ACC refuted Sethi’s claims in its statement and said that it had “followed well-established and due process” in creating the annual calendar. “The calendar was approved of by its Development Committee and Finance & Marketing Committee in a meeting held on December 13th, 2022.

Thank you @JayShah for unilaterally presenting @ACCMedia1 structure & calendars 2023-24 especially relating to Asia Cup 2023 for which 🇵🇰 is the event host. While you are at it, you might as well present structure & calendar of our PSL 2023! A swift response will be appreciated. https://t.co/UdW2GekAfR

— Najam Sethi (@najamsethi) January 5, 2023

“The calendar was then communicated to all the participating members individually, including Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), via an email dated December 22nd, 2022. While responses were received from certain Member Boards, no comments or suggested modifications were received from PCB. In view of the above, Mr Sethi’s comments on a social media platform are baseless and are vehemently denied by the ACC,” the statement read further.

The schedule had marked India and Pakistan in the same group for the Asia Cup 2023 that is set to be played in September. However, the host nation for the tournament was not confirmed. Shah had earlier announced that the Asia Cup will be played in a neutral venue as India will not travel to Pakistan for the same. In response, former PCB chief Ramiz Raja had threatened that Pakistan would pull out of the upcoming ODI World Cup should Pakistan be denied hosting rights of the continental event.