The former cricketer Sunil Gavaskar feels that Pakistan won’t be a part of the upcoming Asia Cup in India and Sri Lanka after the Pahalgam terror attack last month.
India and Sri Lanka were set to host the tournament later this year, but the terror attack in Pahalgam in April has cast a shadow on the event going ahead and whether Pakistan will be part of it.
“BCCI’s stance has always been what the government of India tells them to do. So I don’t think it would be any different when it comes to the Asia Cup.”
“India and Sri Lanka are the hosts for this particular edition of the Asia Cup, so it depends on whether things have changed at all, but if things haven’t changed, I can’t see Pakistan now being part of the Asia Cup, which is going to be hosted by India and Sri Lanka,” said Gavaskar.
Sunil Gavaskar made the bold claim that the Asian Cricket Council could be disbanded, especially after PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi has taken charge as the president of the organisation.
The former cricketer feels that ACC could come to end if India pulls out and the Asia Cup could be made into a three or four-nation tournament.
In the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack, BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla claimed that India will never have bilateral series with Pakistan.
“I don’t know how it will be. It might be that the Asian Cricket Council could well be disbanded, and you could just have a three-nation tour, that could well have a three-nation tournament, or a four-nation tournament with maybe Hong Kong or UAE being invited.”
“So that could well happen, the Asian Cricket Council could well be disbanded. But I think it is dependent on what happens in the next couple of months,” said Gavaskar.
“It could well happen that India decides to pull out of the Asian Cricket Council that could well happen. We can say look we’re going to have a 4 nation tournament or a 5 nation tournament in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and it could well be that if the tournament is held in Bangladesh, the tournament is held in Sri Lanka, but obviously India is going to be the host, then India will host it in India,” he added.
Sunil Gavaskar feels that with the tension between India and Pakistan escalating, it will be difficult to play cricket.
“I won’t be surprised at all if the Asian Cricket Council gets disbanded with what’s been happening. I mean if you’ve got two countries, you know, fighting against each other, then it’s, it’s a little bit difficult to, to play sport with each other,” said Gavaskar.
