Chairman PCB Clears air on Babar Azam’s future as Pakistan captain
KARACHI: Najam Sethi, spoke out against the protracted standoff over the Asia Cup and reaffirmed his commitment to holding onto the hosting rights.
Sethi, in an interview with a local sports channel, categorically stated that there is no chance that the PCB will lose the hosting rights of the Asia Cup and suffer huge financial loss.
“It is simple, we worked out a plan to host Asia Cup on a hybrid model. If India don’t want to play in Pakistan, we will host them at a neutral venue,” he said.
“We presented the hybrid model in the ACC meeting. Pakistan and India will play each other at least twice. This match generates more than half of the revenue. We have calculated the extra budget and told ACC about it.
“If they [India] are agreed to play in Pakistan, they are welcome. If they want to play at a neutral venue, we are ready. There is no option other than hosting this event otherwise we will not play.”
The PCB management committee chair further revealed that the cricket board has completed its planning including the schedule of the tournament, based on the hybrid model and also presented it in the ACC meeting.
“We have prepared a schedule and already presented it in the ACC meeting. We have also made a plan for logistics. On our side, everything is final. We just need a green signal,” he shared.
The upcoming edition of the Asia Cup and Pakistan’s participation in the Men’s ODI World Cup has been in jeopardy after the Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) refused to tour Pakistan for the aforementioned tournament on political grounds.
The BCCI maintained their stance of not touring Pakistan for the Asia Cup, while the PCB was adamant that if they do not, then Pakistan might not travel to India for the World Cup in October-November.
Earlier, a report emerged that the two cricket boards were gradually moving towards a compromise and had nearly agreed to host India’s matches on a neutral venue while the rest of the Asia Cup will be played in Pakistan.
As per the latest development, however, the BCCI has refused the hybrid proposal for both events and once again demanded to shift the Asia Cup entirely from Pakistan.
Earlier,
(PCB) management committee Najam Sethi on Monday, put the uncertainty surrounding Babar Azam’s future as the Pakistan captain to rest.
Taking to Twitter, PCB management committee chair Sethi clarified the cricket board’s stance on continuing with Babar as the all-format captain and urged the media and cricketing circles to support the right-handed batter in interests of the national team.
“For months media and cricketing circles have been discussing pros and cons of retaining Babar Azam as captain in all formats of the game. Since this decision is ultimately Chairman’s, I have sought views of Selection Committees headed by Shahid Afridi and now Haroon Rashid.
1/3 For months media and cricketing circles have been discussing pros and cons of retaining Babar Azam as captain in all formats of the game. Since this decision is ultimately Chairman’s, I have sought views of Selection Committees headed by Shahid Afridi and now Haroon Rashid.
— Najam Sethi (@najamsethi) April 10, 2023
“Both Committees thought matter merited discussion but both later came to the conclusion that the status quo should be retained. I have subsequently publicly stated this position. In the final analysis my decision will be subject to the success or failure of status quo.
“I will also be guided by what the Selectors and Director Cricket Ops and Head Coach have to say going forward. I expect they will be in the best position to advise me. Therefore we should support Babar and not make matter controversial in interests of national team.
It is apropos to mention that rumours were surfacing on the internet regarding Babar’s captaincy being in jeopardy after he, alongside some senior players, was rested for the recently-held T20I series against Afghanistan.
