BCCI seeks government clearance for hosting U-19 Asia Cup due to Pakistan’s participation
The BCCI has sought clearance from the Indian government to host the Under-19 Asia Cup since the tournament will include the Pakistan Under-19 team. The tournament is scheduled to be held in November and is seen as a practice opportunity for the 2018 Under-19 World Cup to be held in New Zealand.
It’s understood that the BCCI had written to the Home Ministry a few weeks ago and are still awaiting a reply. The board have also written to the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), who will be meeting in Sri Lanka during the second week of August, whether they could push the tournament back to allow the Indian board some more time to get the necessary permission. Last time, the tournament was hosted by Sri Lanka in 2016 and the BCCI is interested in bringing it to India this year.
“The BCCI has written to the Indian government seeking permission for whether we can host the Youth Asia Cup for under-19 boys. In normal circumstances, we wouldn’t be too worried about getting the clearance but since the tournament would include a team from Pakistan an approval is being sought. The government’s stance so far has been that India cannot play Pakistan in a bilateral series but there’s no clarity on whether they could face each other in a multinational event like this,” a BCCI official told The Indian Express.
Earlier this year, the Indian board had written to the government asking whether they could play Pakistan in a bilateral series next year. However, their request was turned down and the board had to then organize a full-series with Sri Lanka at home in this November-December.Â