Credit: Twitter
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has reportedly sent their confirmation to the ICC that their Men's cricket team will travel to India to play the 2023 Cricket World Cup. This news comes in the wake of long-standing back and forth between the BCCI and PCB regarding which venue their respective teams will play matches in the Asia Cup (ODI Edition) and the Cricket World Cup respectively.
For the unversed, last year, Jay Shah, the Secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) categorically mentioned that India Cricket Team will not be playing 2023 Asia Cup matches in the host country Pakistan, because of the continuous political tensions between both the countries.
Farid Khan, one of the well-known journalists from Pakistan, has taken to Twitter to confirm the participation of the Pakistan Cricket Team in the 2023 Cricket World Cup in India. He tweeted, "Exclusive: Pakistan Cricket Board has green signal to ICC that they will travel to India for the 2023 World Cup. 100% confirmed."
To combat India's decision to not play in Pakistan, PCB, under the leadership of Najam Sethi, introduced an arrangement, touted as the Hybrid Model, to have India play Asia Cup matches, including the final, at a neutral venue rather than visiting hosts Pakistan later this year.
As of right now, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) or the BCCI hasn’t approved the Hybrid Model from PCB to let India play its Asia Cup matches at a neutral venue. Furthermore, it is rumoured that the tournament might get hosted in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, or UAE this coming September.
Moreover, the BCCI will have its Special General Meeting (SGM) on May 27, where the final decision regarding the final venues for Asia Cup and World Cup might be taken. This meet will be held in Ahmedabad, a day prior to Narendra Modi Stadium hosting the IPL 2023 Final in the same city.