Sources say that Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) head Najam Sethi has told Greg Barclay, his colleague at the International Cricket Council (ICC), that he is worried about playing India in the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 match at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium. The match is against India, Pakistan’s biggest rival.
As the news service PTI first reported, PCB wants its games to be held in Kolkata, Chennai, and Bengaluru. Barclay and ICC General Manager Geoff Allardice recently went to Karachi to talk to the head of the PCB and get him to promise that they won’t ask for their ODI World Cup 2023 games to be played at a neutral site since the ACC is about to turn down their request to play the Asia Cup based on the “Hybrid Model.”
A top PCB source said, “Sethi has told Barclay and Allardice that Pakistan doesn’t want its games to be scheduled in Ahmedabad unless it’s a knockout game like the final.”
“He asked the ICC to put their games in Chennai, Bengaluru, and Kolkata if the national team gets permission from the Pakistani government to go to India for the international event in October and November,” a source told the PTI news agency.
Pakistan’s board is worried about the safety of its players if they have to play India in Ahmedabad. However, it should be noted that Inzamam ul Haq’s team played at the Motera during its tour of India in 2005. The PCB source also said that Sethi has asked ICC officials to convince BCCI to accept Pakistan’s hybrid model for the Asia Cup in 2023, which is unlikely to happen.
He also stated that Sethi had insisted that it would not accept the new income sharing model unless its share was raised in the new five-year cycle. “Sethi said it was unfair that Australia and England would get more of the ICC’s money in the new cycle than Pakistan,” a person said.
“Sethi argued that Australia and England play bilateral series with India often and that their players also play in the Indian Premier League, which means that the IPL management gives the two boards more money,” he said.
Officials from the BCCI and ICC are currently in London for the World Test Championship Final. In the next few days, they are expected to approve the World Cup schedule and sites so that they can be sent to the member or participating countries.
