Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Najam Sethi clarified on Friday that Pakistan will only travel to India for the ODI World Cup if the Rohit Sharma-led team is allowed to play the upcoming Asia Cup and 2025 Champions Trophy in his country. The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) recently rejected the “hybrid model”, which the former journalist says is the only viable solution until India and Pakistan play each other in their respective countries. Sethi also said that if India comes to Pakistan, their national team will have no problem playing in any Indian city including Ahmedabad.
Besides an exclusive interview with the PTI:
Q: What is the status of the Asia Cup and what is ACC’s response to your proposed hybrid model?
A: In the current scenario, we have made it clear that we will play four matches in Pakistan and we will play the rest of the matches at a neutral venue, which we can mutually agree on. The Asian Cricket Council can make two decisions. Either they can say ‘Okay, let’s go ahead and publish the schedule’ as per my suggestion, or they can say ‘No, we want to play all matches in a neutral venue’.
If they take the first position, then everything is settled and we get to work. If they take second place, I’m afraid we won’t be in the Asia Cup. That is the current position. We await a response from Mr. Jay Shah and other colleagues.
Q: Does it make sense for Pakistan to stay in ACC if they don’t play Asia Cup?
A: That is for consideration by the Asian Cricket Council. The next turn for the chairmanship of the Asian Cricket Council is for PCB. That’s our turn. So we really want to stay in the Asian Cricket Council. Let me go beyond that. There can be no ACC without Pakistan.
The two main members generating revenue for ACC are India and Pakistan. It is their matches that earn 80 percent of the broadcasting rights. If Pakistan does not play the Asia Cup, the announcer, that is Star, will be in trouble.
The 45 or 46 million dollars that should come for the series (Asia Cup) will mainly come from these matches and the way the Asia Cup is structured, Pakistan and India will play a minimum of two matches and if they qualify for the finals, is there a third game.
That is why India and Pakistan are critical to the cup as well as the council. Therefore, it should be mentioned that at the last ACC meeting in Bahrain, I had presented the hybrid model to save the Asian Cup, as India had refused to play in Pakistan, the host nation, that is where the problem arose. I had said, solution is I will find a neutral location for India games.
The president of the BCB had then said that the option of Pakistan not playing the Asia Cup is out of the question. If India comes to Pakistan, the crowd will be hospitable, but if India does not come and gives no rational reason not to come to Pakistan, while the whole world comes to Pakistan, then this is the solution I have in mind. We will play against India in a neutral venue, but the rest of the countries will have to come and play their matches in Pakistan.
We have gone so far as to say that we only play four matches in Pakistan and play the rest of the matches at neutral venues. So we have not only provided a solution for one problem, but also for the World Cup and the Champions Trophy (in Pakistan in 2025). Because if we don’t go to India to play, there will be a problem. And if India does not come to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy (2025), then there is a problem.
Q: India will not go to Pakistan because of political tensions, but after the arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, don’t you think other teams will be wary of going to Pakistan in the current security situation?
A: Imran Khan’s protest situation has been going on for six months. The New Zealand national team was playing in Rawalpindi, Lahore, Karachi as Imran Khan’s protest was underway. So that’s no problem. The security provided to these teams is VVIP presidential security and takes precedence over everything else.
If there is a problem in Islamabad, do you mean you are not allowed to have cricket in Pindi, Multan, Lahore or Karachi? No, it doesn’t mean that. Let me continue. This is the month of May and we are talking about the Asia Cup in September. Give me a break. Are you saying Pakistan will go up in flames in September and won’t be able to play cricket? Then why not wait until September and see what happens.
“If the situation is such that teams cannot provide security, I will be the first to say, let’s move it to a neutral venue for all matches. Do you think we want our honorable guests to face riots in Pakistan ?” “No, we don’t. We care about them. Please allow us to be responsible.”
Q: Why can’t Ahmedabad be a venue for the India vs Pakistan match as Pakistan played at the same venue in 2005?
A: I never said that. I just said that no one from the BCCI asked us about Ahmedabad. For some strange reason, this is putting the cart before the horse. You ask me whether we will play in Ahmedabad or not, but I tell you, the real question is whether we will play in India or not? We play in India when India plays in Pakistan. But if India is not playing in Pakistan, why should we be playing in India? So my solution was let games between India and Pakistan be played in a neutral venue. That’s all. You can’t have your cake and eat it too.
Now we come to Ahmedabad, if India comes to Pakistan, we will provide VVIP security in every location and I dare say we will go to India on mutual terms, if India asks us to play in Ahmedadbad on mutual terms, we won’t have any problems. We will play wherever they want us to play because we expect them to provide us with the security that is needed, just as India would want us to provide them with security in every location if India were to play in Pakistan.
So Ahmedabad is honestly not a problem. Let’s first solve that India and Pakistan are playing in each other’s country.
Q: If the ACC agrees to a 4-match hybrid model, will Pakistan play in the World Cup in India as a hybrid model, while Pakistan will play India in Bangladesh, maybe this is not a viable solution?
A: Look, the problem right now is the Asian Cup. I would like the hybrid model to work and succeed. It is a formula for the future for World Cup and Champions Trophy. Because if India refuses to come to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy, we have a problem. If Pakistan refuses to go to India, there will be problems, won’t there? The reason is that India is not coming to Pakistan. So either we don’t play at all or we compromise as we move the ball forward. So let’s have a solution. India and Pakistan go through in all tournaments — Asia Cup, World Cup, Champions Trophy will not play against each other in each other’s country. No problem. The game is still going on.
Q: In the ICC revenue model, India gets about 38.5 percent. It’s a proposal, but do you agree?
A: We have asked ICC to provide us with full details of the ideas and formulas underlying this model. The ICC has given us something we want, but not everything we want. We are writing to ICC to provide us with assumptions underlying this model and formulas used to arrive at this model.
It is not enough to tell us that these are the numbers. Under the constitution of the ICC, it is the right of every member to know how things are done and how certain decisions are made. We’re waiting for those details and we’ll take it from there.
(This story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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