Pakistan on Tuesday, threatened to pull out of next year's World Cup in India, reacting strongly to BCCI secretary Jay Shah's statement that they would prefer to play the Asia Cup at a neutral venue. We have nothing to say at the moment, but yes, we will look at things and take up this matter at appropriate forums like the ICC board meeting in Melbourne next month. The PCB officials are surprised at the timing of Jay Shah's statement because there is still nearly a year to go before the Asia Cup is held in Pakistan in September 2023. The PCB is wondering in what capacity has Jay Shah given the statement that the ACC will look to relocate the Asia Cup to UAE out of Pakistan because the hosting rights were awarded by the executive board of the ACC, not the president.
The sources close to the Pakistan Cricket Board also said that Raja will write to the ACC and will also demand an emergency meeting in Melbourne next month to discuss Shah's statement. The PCB is now prepared to take hard decisions and play hard ball because it is also aware that the ICC and ACC events will have to face commercial liabilities and losses if Pakistan does not play India in these multi-team events," a senior PCB source told PTI on conditions of anonymity. Former Pakistan opener, Saeed Anwar also backed Ramiz Raja and gave support to the notion of Pakistan pulling out of 2023 World Cup to be held in India.
