Pakistan won't travel for World Cup if India stick to neutral venue demand for Asia Cup: Pak Sports Minister

Pakistan Sports Minister Ehsan Mazari has said that the Men in Green would pull out from the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 in India if Men in Blue do not travel to his country for the Asia Cup 2023. The Asia Cup 2023 is scheduled to start on 31 August and the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) has already announced that the tournament would take place in Pakistan and Sri Lanka under a ‘hybrid model’. Out of 13 matches, four would take place in Pakistan. India are grouped alongside Pakistan and Nepal, while Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Bangladesh are in the second group. The hybrid model was explored after India refused to travel to Pakistan for the Asia Cup. “My personal opinion, since the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) comes under my ministry, is that if India demands to play their Asia Cup games at a neutral venue, we would also demand the same for our World Cup games in India,” Ehsan Mazari said in an interview with Indian Express. Mazari feels that Pakistan being the host should be hosting the tournament alone. “Pakistan is the host, it has the right to hold all the matches in Pakistan. That is what the cricket lovers want, I don’t want a hybrid model,” he said. Mazari’s comments also come after Shahbaz Sharif, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, set up a high-level committee to take a call on the country’s participation in the ICC ODI World Cup 2023. The committee includes Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto, Ehsan Mazari, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and Law and Justice Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar among others. Over the new committee, Mazari said: “The committee will be headed by Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and I am among the 11 ministers who are part of it. We will discuss the issue and give our recommendations to the PM, who is also the patron-in-chief of PCB. The PM will take the final decision.”