The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) is most likely to shift the Asia Cup out of Pakistan, which was originally scheduled to host the continental tournament.
In 2022, BCCI secretary and ACC chairman Jay Shah had made it clear that the Indian team will not travel to Pakistan for the Continental championship and demanded that the event be moved to a neutral venue. However, Pakistan then threatened to boycott the ODI World Cup, which will be played in India in October-November.
According to an India Today report, the Asia cup could be shifted entirely to a new country, with Sri Lanka coming up as the frontrunner to host the tournament.
Interestingly, the Island nation failed to host the Asia Cup last year due to the economic crisis, as a result of which the tournament was shifted to the UAE. As per reports, Jay Shah had clearly stated that the Indian team will not travel to Pakistan over safety issues and worked in the direction to move the tournament out of Pakistan.
In response, PCB proposed a hybrid model as per which the Men In Blue would have played its matches at an offshore venue and Pakistan hosting the remaining games at home.
Notably, both India and Pakistan do not play bilateral cricket and only meet in global tournaments or multi-team events since 2013 due to strained political tensions between the two countries.
Significantly, the Men In Blue had last visited Pakistan for the 2008 Asia Cup, while Pakistan’s last visit to India was for the 2016 ICC T20 World Cup. The two teams last played each other at the 2022 Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia.