Asia Cup 2023: In a recent development over the venue of the Asia Cup 2023, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have reportedly approved Pakistan's hybrid model to host the tournament. Pakistan are hoping to find a solution over the venue of the tournament after India denied travelling to the neighbouring nation.
As per a report by Pakistan's Geo News, both Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have now expressed their willingness to support Pakistan's hybrid model. Moreover, the report adds that Asian Cricket Council President Jay Shah will chair a meeting with ACC Board members to assess the proposal of the host country Pakistan.
Pakistan have reportedly offered two options in their hybrid model. The first one includes India playing their matches at a neutral venue, while the other games will be held in Pakistan. The second one says that four group stage matches in the initial phase of the event will take place in Pakistan while the Indian matches in the second phase followed by next stage matches and the final to be played outside Pakistan.
It is being learnt that the two ACC members have agreed upon the second option. India, Pakistan and Nepal are in Group 1, whereas Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan are in group 2. Also, it is being said that an official meeting of the council will be called by end of May to decide on the future of the event.
Meanwhile, the PCB chairman had recently confirmed that the future of the tournament will be decided within the next two weeks and nothing has been finalised yet. "Nothing has been finalised yet. We will have the decision on Asia Cup cricket within the next two weeks," Sethi told The News.
Earlier there were reports that both Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have opposed the hybrid model proposal. "Najam Sethi (PCB chairman) was in Dubai today to procure support but to his horror, there were no takers for his proposal of Pakistan playing its games in Karachi or Lahore and India playing in UAE. Sri Lanka was always with BCCI and now even Bangladesh Cricket Board seemed opposed to the idea," an ACC source told PTI.
"ACC has always maintained that in principle the 'hybrid model' is unacceptable and the budgetary sanctions can never be passed. Also, it's not about Pakistan hosting its own matches. It also means that if India and Pakistan are in the same group, the third team will be travelling to and fro between Dubai and a city in Pakistan," the source added.
