Former Pakistan captain Javed Miandad has harshly criticised the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for refusing to travel Pakistan for the 2023 Asia Cup.
“India can go to hell if they don’t want to come to Pakistan to play cricket,” the 65-year-old said at a recent public event. “I’ve always backed Pakistan. And you know that I don’t leave spare India whenever an issue arises. But the thing is we need to look at our part. And we should fight for it. We don’t care because we are getting to host our cricket. This is ICC’s job. If ICC can’t control this there’s no use of the governing body. They need to implement similar rules for every team. If teams like these don’t come, they should be debarred. India hoga, apne liye hoga. Hmare liye nahi hai.“
Following the Asian Cricket Council’s last meeting, the BCCI stated unequivocally that the Indian squad will not travel to Pakistan to compete in the forthcoming Asia Cup. The reason behind this is that due to diplomatic difficulties between the two countries, it will not receive “permission from the Indian government” to travel to Pakistan to play cricket.
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Javed Miandad, on the other hand, believes that India’s refusal to play in Pakistan is because to their dread of losing to the latter in their own nation.
He said, “Come and play. Why don’t they? They run. For them it becomes a trouble if they come here and lose to us. The public there can’t stomach it. It’s always been the case. During our time, they used to not play because of the same reason. Riots and fighting take place there. The crowd there is very nasty. You would’ve seen whenever India loses, to anyone, the crowd there burns down houses. When we used to play, they had faced such troubles.”
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“They are bet losers. The public there need to understand. Cricket is a sport. If you don’t play well, you deserve to lose. If I play well, I deserve to win. Rather you go into other things. What good is that? I say this to the ICC, if anyone does resort to such ways, ICC need to be strict. If you’re India, so what? If any country behaves this way, ICC need to take action. Such teams should be removed to learn a lesson.”
Following a decade-long absence due to terrorist attacks during the Sri Lanka tour of Pakistan, the Pakistan Cricket Board has expressed interest in hosting the 2023 ODI format Asia Cup and has referred to international teams touring the country to reassure players of safety concerns. Over the last year, teams such as England, New Zealand, and Australia have toured the country and played Test cricket. The PCB wants cricketing links with the Indian squad to resume, but the BCCI appears hesitant to travel to Pakistan.
The tournament is likely to be moved from Pakistan to another location due to the BCCI’s stance, with PCB keeping the rights to host the tournament, as Sri Lanka did in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) last year following instability in the country due to economic issues.
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