PCB extend Asia Cup 2023 invite to BCCI Secretary Jay Shah
PCB have also invited heads of other boards who are part of the Asian Cricket Council
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has extended their invitation to BCCI Secretary Jay Shah to attend the Asia Cup 2023 opener in Multan. PCB Chief Zaka Ashraf had verbally invited his BCCI counterpart during the ICC meeting. It is unlikely that Shah, the son of the Union Home Minister, travels to Pakistan given the frosty political ties between the two countries.
Pakistan Cricket Team will face Nepal in the first game of the Asia Cup in Multan on August 30.
The PCB said besides Shah, it has also invited heads of other boards who are part of the Asian Cricket Council for the opening match.
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A well-informed source in the PCB said the invitation was sent to Shah more out of hope than any realistic expectation of him visiting Pakistan.
“The PCB has basically followed up on the invitation which was extended verbally by Chairman Zaka Ashraf to Jay Shah when they both met in Durban for the ICC meeting,” the source said.
The Pakistani media had then reported that Shah accepted the PCB’s invitation, but the BCCI secretary denied this claim.
“The PCB was obviously embarrassed after the Pakistani media reported that Jay Shah had accepted Zaka Ashraf’s invitation and the Indian board official later flatly denied this,” he said.
Aware of the existing relations between India and Pakistan, the source said PCB wanted to show that it does not mix sports with politics by extending the invitation to Shah.
“The idea is to basically highlight Pakistan’s chosen stance on cricket relations with India that it does not mix politics with sports,” he added.
