Pakistan's World Cup participation could be in danger after BCCI's recent explosive Asia Cup claims

At a time when the Pakistan government has formed a high-profile committee led by Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to take a call on the team's travel to India later this year for the ICC World Cup 2023, India's confirmation about not travelling to Pakistan for the Asia Cup is likely to add a fresh twist to the tussle. 

BCCI secretary Jay Shah and PCB representative head Zaka Ashraf met in Durban ahead of the ICC Board meeting scheduled on Thursday to confirm the hybrid model of the Asia Cup, the fixtures for which were announced last month.

PCB's then-representative head Najam Sethi had proposed the hybrid model after India had announced their reservations about travelling to Pakistan. The schedule got an approval from the other Asian Cricket Council (ACC) members and it was decided that India will play their matches in Sri Lanka while the other matches will take place in Pakistan.

After Zaka Ashraf took over from Sethi earlier this month, he objected to the hybrid schedule of Asia Cup, giving rise to fresh doubts over the tournament's venue. However, IPL chairman Arun Dhumal, on Wednesday, confirmed that BCCI and PCB are going ahead with the proposed hybrid model for the Asia Cup.

India in all likelihood will play Pakistan in Sri Lanka's Dambulla just like the 2010 edition. Pakistan's only home match in their country will be against minnows Nepal.

"Our secretary met PCB head Zaka Ashraf and the Asia Cup schedule was finalised and it is on course as it was discussed earlier. There will be four games of league stage in Pakistan, followed by 9 games in Sri Lanka including both India versus Pakistan game and in case a third game if both teams play final," Dhumal told PTI from Durban.

This comes a day after Pakistan Sports Minister, Ehsaan Mazari, asked "...why can't Pakistan's matches in the World Cup be played at neutral venues when the Indian team can't travel to Pakistan for the Asia Cup." The minister also suggested that Zaka Ashraf was likely to take up Asia Cup's schedule with BCCI secretary Jay Shah during their meeting in Durban. However, Dhumal confirmed that there were no changes to the Asia Cup schedule.

"There was no such discussion held. Neither India is travelling to Pakistan nor our secretary will be travelling contrary to reports that have surfaced. Only the schedule was finalised," Dhumal added.

What does this mean for Pakistan's World Cup participation?

It is too early to say anything but India's stance of not travelling to Pakistan for the Asia Cup despite their repeated threats of pulling out from the World Cup in India sends out a strong message. The ICC and BCCI meanwhile have gone public by stating that they have no doubts about Pakistan's travel to India for the World Cup in October-November. The PCB have signed an agreement with the ICC for participating in its global events and it is unlikely that they will risk a breach.

What about Pakistan's demands for the rescheduling of a few of their group matches?

The very fact that PCB are even considering venues in India, means that somewhere down the line, they know there is little choice but to travel to India for the World Cup. The PCB had said that they don't want to play India in Ahmedabad and wanted to swap the venues of their matches against Australia (in Bengaluru) and Afghanistan (in Chennai). None of the demands were met. However, Pakistan play most of their matches in favourable venues in Hyderabad and Kolkata. In fact, if Pakistan qualify for the semi-finals, they will play in Kolkata even if the other team is India, the hosts, who will play their semi-final (if they qualify) in Mumbai against any other team except Pakistan.