BCCI and PCB Could Clash in ACC’s February Meeting Over Calendar: Report

The members of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) will meet for an emergency meeting on 4 February.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) are likely to have a fiery exchange during the Asian Cricket Council's (ACC) emergency board meeting on 4 February, a report in ESPNCricinfo said on Monday, 23 January.

According to the report, the point of contention for the two parties is BCCI secretary Jay Shah's announcement on the ACC's calendar for 2023, which the PCB alleges was made "unilaterally" without consulting them. Jay Shah also happens to be the president of ACC.

Presenting the @ACCMedia1 pathway structure & cricket calendars for 2023 & 2024! This signals our unparalleled efforts & passion to take this game to new heights. With cricketers across countries gearing up for spectacular performances, it promises to be a good time for cricket! pic.twitter.com/atzBO4XjIn

— Jay Shah (@JayShah) January 5, 2023

The PCB has sought an emergency ACC Board meeting, which PCB chairman Najam Sethi announced will take place next month.

"For some time there hasn't been any ACC Board meeting and there were a lot of decisions being made and one of them we have challenged," Sethi said in a press conference. "Now the good news is that we managed to convince them to have their Board meeting and I will be attending it."

The point of contention between the two boards is the Asia Cup 2023 which is scheduled to be held in Pakistan in September. The event was thrown into uncertainty after Shah announced that the tournament should be moved to a neutral venue as India could not travel to Pakistan to participate.

Ramiz Raja, who was the PCB chief at that time, objected to it and said Pakistan will not travel to India for the ODI World Cup later this year

We Can’t Fight Another Case: Najam Sethi

With Sethi returning to the helm of PCB last month, he has taken up the issue and sought a meeting of the ACC Board to discuss the matter.

"We have to look at what we can do but we can't (fight) another case, but I can say that that case wasn't handled properly and I think we didn't give a good fight. But eventually, even judges said that if you look through the microscope this case is in favour of Pakistan but if you see this case with a telescope this is going in India's favour. So in nutshell, with all the nitty-gritty it's Pakistan's case, but then their stance was that it's the (Indian) government which isn't allowing us (to tour Pakistan)," Sethi was quoted as saying in the report.

The two sides are expected to discuss the matter in the 4 February meeting.