KARACHI: The Minister for Inter-provincial Coordination Ehsan-ur-Rehman Mazari announced that Jay Shah, the secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), has accepted an invitation from Zaka Ashraf, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board Interim Management Committee, to visit Pakistan before the Asia Cup.
Zaka extended the invitation to Shah during the International Cricket Council meetings in South Africa. In return, Shah has also invited Zaka to visit India before the World Cup.
The meeting between Zaka and Shah took place in Durban. It raised doubts about whether Pakistan will visit India for the World Cup scheduled from October 5 to November 19.
Shah attributed the Indian cricket team’s inability to visit Pakistan to government orders. He suggested that resolving the issue through bilateral government meetings could potentially pave the way for India to visit Pakistan.
The participation of Pakistan in the World Cup remains uncertain. The government is conducting due diligence through a special committee headed by Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto.
Mazari, a member of the committee, expressed his personal opinion that Pakistan should not visit India for the World Cup, considering India’s denial of visiting Pakistan for the Asia Cup.
While a “hybrid model” allowing Pakistan and Sri Lanka to host the competition and facilitate India’s participation had been accepted by all Asian Cricket Council (ACC) members, Mazari recently stated that he didn’t have a problem with the hybrid model.
Zaka confirmed that the PCB would honor the commitment made by the previous interim Management Committee under Najam Sethi to the ACC, even though they don’t support the hybrid model.
The appointed committee will take a final decision on Pakistan’s participation in the world cup. The committee would be carefully considering venue selection and security arrangements regarding the matches.
Zaka expressed his intention to discuss bilateral cricket relations and confidence-building measures with Jay Shah. It aims to explore the possibilities of the return of bilateral cricket between India and Pakistan.
