Report: India might end up losing place in Asia Cup 2018

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) might have used their supremacy long enough to dodge Pakistan’s demands and complaints concerning the lack of bilateral series between the nations, but recent reports state that maintaining further such stance might not be possible as it could result in India missing out on the 2018 Asia Cup.  

The strained political relations between India and Pakistan have hugely affected the cricketing ties between the nations. After Pakistan’s repeated demands to the International Cricket Council to muster any kind of response or future confirmation of schedule from BCCI failed, the PCB has even claimed a compensation of $70 million now for not honouring the MoU of holding bilateral cricket series, which has recently been discarded as a piece of paper by BCCI.

While that factor remains unsolved, BCCI officials are now reportedly of the opinion that India cannot be reluctant anymore as it could see them losing a place in the Asia Cup 2018, which will take place in June next year.

“If we didn’t get the permission to host the Pakistan’s Under-19 team from the Centre, it looks highly unlikely that we’ll get to do so in case of their senior team,” said a BCCI official to TOI.

The BCCI official also revealed that the board is waiting for the government to decide if they would allow Pakistan players in the country. Earlier, the Committee of Administrators (COA) had discussed the possibility of hosting the bilateral tournament in another country, but no confirmation has been made since then.

A minute-of-meeting of COA, dated November 21, read, “It’s not clear whether the government of India will allow the Pakistan team to travel to India for the tournament. If not, then the BCCI needs to inform the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) of the same so that an alternate host country can be finalized.”

“The Pakistan athletes were given visas to take part in the Asian Athletics Championships, but the government says that cricket’s case is a bit different, since it has an emotional connect with people from both the countries. When we approached the government with a request, we didn’t get any response from them, but we need to decide fast since we need to inform the ACC soon,” the official further added.