India will insist on a neutral venue for next year’s Asia Cup, that is scheduled to be held in Pakistan. After the Annual General Meeting of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in Mumbai on Tuesday (October 18), the BCCI arrived at a conclusion that it will not travel to Pakistan for the continental championship and demand that the tournament be moved to a neutral venue.

“Neutral venue for Asia Cup is not unprecedented and we have decided that we will not travel to Pakistan,” Jay Shah, the secretary of the BCCI and also the president of the ACC, said. “I have decided that we will play at a neutral venue,” Shah said.

The 2022 edition of the Asia Cup, allotted to Sri Lanka was held in UAE. The 2023 edition, a 50-over championship, a pre-cursor to the World Cup in India, has been allotted to Pakistan. BCCI had initially kept the option of travelling to Pakistan but Shah clarified that the question does not arise.

ICC election

The AGM also has authorised the office-bearers to decide on who to back in the election to the International Cricket Council (ICC) Chair. The decision comes a day after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to support Sourav Ganguly for the ICC job. “Whoever is qualified is free to file nomination and the office-bearers will decide,” Rajeev Shukla, the vice-president, said. Whether Ganguly will file the nomination is to be seen but it appears that incumbent ICC Chair Greg Barclay will contest again to seek another term with the likelihood of Imran Khwaja, former deputy chair, also filing papers. The last date for filing nomination is Thursday (October 20). The election is in the second week of November in Melbourne.

More to follow…