Asia Cup 2024: Ehsaan Mazari, Pakistan Sports Minister addresses the issue regarding neutral venues for Asia Cup 2024. Pakistan has the organizing rights for the Asia Cup this year, however, India has advocated for neutral venues, due to security concerns thus, a hybrid model has been decided, with matches set to take place in Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
However the matter has surfaced, as Mazari claims that the Men in Green can replicate the same and demands Neutral venues for the ICC World Cup scheduled to be held in India. This situation has sparked a state of frenzy among fans and cricket experts. Even the schedule regarding the venues for ICC World Cup 2024, was postponed due to the disputes that emerged from Pakistan.
According to the reports released by the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), the Asia Cup 2024 will be scheduled to take place from 31st August to 17th September. Four matches will be held in Pakistan, while Sri Lanka will conduct the remaining nine games. There are two groups and in Group 1 India, Pakistan and Nepal are placed while in Group 2 Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan will rival each other.
Nepal is making its historic debut in the Asia Cup 2024 after securing a position in the tournament by clinching an enormous victory in the ACC men’s premier league. In a grand championship match, Nepal sealed a seven-wicket victory against UAE, instrumental innings ousted by Gulshan Kumar Jha of 67 runs in 84 deliveries, ensuring Nepal’s spot in the tournament, designating their first-ever participation in such a Notable tournament.
Ehsaan Mazari Lambastes India’s Security Concern Justification
India last travelled to Pakistan in 2006, where they lost the Test series but won the ODIs. Since then Pakistan has visited India twice for bilateral series in 2012 but after diplomatic ties were severed, neither country was permitted to travel. Presently, the situation has remained unchanged since both nations are not allowed to travel to each other’s countries, they only battle one another in multi-nation ICC tournaments for ex-World Cups, Asia Cup and champions trophies.
The Pakistani Sports Minister believes that security is an excuse, he claims that New Zealand, and England both teams visited Pakistan and were received by presidential security, also earlier the Indian Team were given a hearty reception by the Pakistani fans, he also stated that during PSL (Pakistan Super League) many foreign players tour Pakistan, therefore, India is merely using an excuse to avoid visiting their nation, says Mazari.
He also alleges that India always brings Politics into sports, and it’s beyond his understanding why the Indian government is hesitating to send their team to Pakistan.
He also asserted that some time ago, a significant group of Indian baseball players visited Islamabad to participate. Additionally, the bridge team also made a trip to Pakistan. With over 60 individuals present, the speaker served as the event’s chief guest. After achieving victory, the Indian delegation departed. Similarly, Pakistan’s football, hockey, and chess teams also undertake journeys to India. Therefore, it is perplexing to him why the Indian team is displaying reluctance to send their team to his nation.
However, the ICC World Cup schedule is out and Pakistan will start their ICC World Cup 2024 campaign on 6th October 2024 against the Netherlands at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.
