London: The Indian cricket board (BCCI) has expressed its reservations about the Asian Cricket Council’s (ACC) planned meeting in Dhaka, in the last week of July, to discuss the fate of the Asia Cup. The BCCI, which recently convinced the Bangladesh cricket board (BCB) to indefinitely postpone India’s white-ball tour to Bangladesh — originally scheduled for August this year — is not amused by the ACC’s decision to host the meeting in Dhaka, it is learnt. Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Mohsin Naqvi is the current ACC president. “BCCI has informed the ACC about its unwillingness to send its office bearers to Dhaka. Everyone in the ACC knows the geopolitical situation in the Indian subcontinent. It is rather insensitive for the ACC to organise such an important meeting (in Dhaka),” a BCCI official said.
Options open for Bangladesh tour TOI understands the BCCI has got multiple offers from boards to plan some other cricket in the August window in which they were scheduled to travel to Bangladesh. Also, if the Asia Cup doesn’t happen, the board is mulling a multi-nation tournament. The Asia Cup is tentatively scheduled to be held from September 5 in UAE. It is learnt the Sri Lankan and English cricket boards have kept offers open for India to play cricket in that period. “BCCI has got offers from three-four boards. We are studying them. BCCI wouldn’t want the Indian team to sit idle for two-three months,” the official said. Although BCCI expects to retain the hosting rights for the Asia Cup, it is waiting for the government’s nod before finalising the logistics of the tournament, which is to be played in the T20 format. “UAE has already been zeroed down as the venue for the Asia Cup. But the issue here is whether India should play Pakistan at all. UAE was almost confirmed just before the terrorist attack in Pahalgam on April 22,” the official said. “The government has given the green light to host Pakistan hockey teams this year but cricket is a different equation. If the ACC doesn’t pay heed, BCCI may pull out of the Asia Cup too,” the official said.
