Najam Sethi, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, has expressed concerns to his ICC counterpart, Greg Barclay, about playing the World Cup match against their arch-rivals India at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium. Initially reported by PTI, the PCB has requested that their matches be scheduled in Kolkata, Chennai, and Bengaluru.
Recently, Barclay and ICC General Manager Geoff Allardice visited Karachi to seek assurance from Sethi that they would not demand to play their ODI World Cup matches at a neutral venue. This is due to the ACC’s impending rejection of their demand to play the Asia Cup on the basis of a Hybrid Model.
According to a senior PCB source: “Sethi has conveyed to Barclay and Allardice that Pakistan doesn’t want it matches to be scheduled in Ahmedabad unless it is a knock-out game like final.”
“He requested ICC to schedule their games in Chennai, Bengaluru and Kolkata if national team gets clearance from Pakistan government to travel to India for the global event scheduled in October and November,” the source added.
The Pakistan Cricket Board is expressing concerns about the safety of its players if they were to play India in Ahmedabad. However, it is worth noting that the Inzamam ul Haq-led team played at the Motera during their 2005 tour of India.
A PCB official has stated that Sethi, the chairman of the board, has requested that ICC officials persuade the BCCI to accept Pakistan’s Hybrid Model for the Asia Cup. Unfortunately, it seems unlikely that this proposal will be accepted.
Furthermore, the official confirmed that Sethi has also made it clear that Pakistan will not accept the new revenue sharing model unless their share is increased in the upcoming five-year cycle.
“Sethi pointed out that it was unfair that Pakistan should get a lesser share of the ICC revenues in the new cycle compared to Australia and England,” the source said.
“Sethi argued that Australia and England regularly get to play bilateral series with India and their players also take part in the Indian Premier League which means extra revenues for the two boards from the IPL management,” he added.
Officials from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the International Cricket Council (ICC) are currently in London for the World Test Championship Final. Their primary objective is to finalize the schedule and venues for the upcoming World Cup.
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