Bad News For Pakistan: Amid Asia Cup Tussle, India Find Support From...

NDTV

5 days ago

India have found support from both Sri Lanka and Afghanistan over the demand to shift the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) from Dhaka, according to a report by Cricbuzz. It has become a highly-contested topic between India and Pakistan with major implications on the next edition of Asia Cup. The AGM, which will be chaired by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), was supposed to take place in Dhaka on July 24-25. However, the BCCI have insisted on a change on venue and they have now received support from two key allies.
In order for the meeting to take place, three permanent (Test playing) members will have to attend and as a result, this development has come as a major blow to PCB.
According to the report, the ACC constitution states that at least 10 full or Associate members will also have to be present in the meeting. Nepal, UAE, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar are all full members. The Associates members are Bahrain, Bhutan, Cambodia, Tajikistan, Maldives, Japan, Iran, China, Myanmar and Indonesia.
The report stated that among these nations, the presence of Oman, Nepal, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Kuwait, UAE, Bahrain, Bhutan, Maldives, Myanmar and Indonesia seem doubtful.
The BCCI wanted the venue to be changed from Dhaka considering the rise in diplomatic tensions between the two countries. However, Mohsin Naqvi, the PCB and ACC chief, has refused to consider any changes and even skipped the ICC Annual Conference in Singapore.
Earlier, the BCCI even cancelled a white-ball series against Bangaldesh.
"It now seems the event has turned into a geopolitical matter. Aminul (Islam, the interim head of the BCB) could have handled the situation more carefully when approached by the PCB president to host the meeting. I think he could have taken more time because, in situations like this, taking time is part of the game. Probably due to inexperience, he agreed to host it without fully understanding the geopolitical implications," a Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) insider told Cricbuzz.
"Bulbul (Aminul) was requested to cancel the meeting as some of the board directors were not ready to do anything that can hurt the BCCI but the president insisted that he had given his word so cannot return back after giving his words to PCB."