Pakistan unlikely to host Asia Cup because of India: BCB CEO

The Bangladesh Cricket Board’s (BCB’s) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Nizamuddin Chowdhury has claimed that Pakistan is unlikely to host the Asia Cup because of India’s insistence on not touring the country.

Nizamuddin claimed that there was no correlation between the Asia Cup and the Bangladesh tour of Pakistan amid speculations that the two countries had bartered the tournament to keep the series alive.

“There is no relation between Asia Cup and the series. There was a discussion regarding the Asia Cup venue on the sideline of the meeting. Pakistan is the host of the tournament but they may not host it as India will not tour Pakistan,” Nizamuddin told reporters.

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The BCB CEO stated that Pakistan could try to hold some matches in neutral venues but the financial cost of the project would make this idea unrealistic.

“Pakistan may give a proposal of hosting half of the matches in Pakistan and the matches of India could be hosted in Dubai or Malaysia. But it seems a little unrealistic as it will raise the cost and will make the tournament lengthy,” he said.

Nizamuddin hinted at the possibility of holding the Asia Cup in Bangladesh in case the tournament cannot be played in Pakistan.

 “Of course, Pakistan will not want to see the Asia Cup not happening because they will then lose three million dollar. There will be a discussion about the venue on February during the ACC meeting. If we want to host the event, Pakistan may agree or disagree to our proposal,” he concluded.