The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has expressed its displeasure with BCCI Secretary and Chairman of the Asian Cricket Council, Jay Shah, who earlier this week announced the schedule of the upcoming Asia Cup 2023 ahead of his own official ceremony in Lahore. The PCB had organized an event to announce the Asia Cup schedule along with the trophy unveiling on Wednesday night, July 19 in Lahore, which was attended by a few former Pakistani cricketers and PCB’s Cricket Management Committee (CMC) headed by Zaka Ashraf.
However, Shah announced the schedule on social media half an hour before the start of the event. “The PCB had a clear agreement with the Asian Cricket Council (ACC)[that]it would release the schedule of the Asia Cup five minutes after the ceremony started in Lahore. But unfortunately, half an hour before the ceremony started around 7:15 PM, Jay Shah had announced it on social media,” a trusted source on the board told PTI.
The source said that Jay Shah’s decision to reveal the schedule ruined the PCB ceremony, which was held but lost its relevance as the schedule was already known.
The source added that the PCB had expressed its displeasure to the ACC over the incident, but was told it was all due to a misunderstanding.
“The ACC’s explanation was about misunderstandings about the time difference and stuff, but the point is that India is half an hour ahead of Pakistan’s time, so Jay Shah’s announcement was a shock,” said the source.
Another source on the board said it appeared Shah had settled the scores for the unprofessional manner in which the PCB chairman Ashraf and sports minister Ahsan Mazari had handled the meeting between Shah and Ashraf in Durban at the annual ICC meeting.
“It seems that after the confusion and questions he faced, Jay Shah has settled the accounts whether he had accepted an invitation from Zaka to visit Pakistan for the Asia Cup matches, which was widely circulated in the media by Mazari and the PCB,” said the source.
The Asia Cup kicks off on August 30 in Multan, where hosts Pakistan take on Nepal in the tournament’s opener.
The highly anticipated showdown between India and Pakistan, who have been placed in Group A, will take place in Kandy on September 2.
Pakistan will host four of the 13 matches of the 2013 Asia Cup, including the first Super 4s match, while the remaining nine matches, including the final, will be played in Sri Lanka.
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