Ahead of World Cup 2023 to be played in India, the matter of hosting Asia Cup has become a thorn of contention between Pakistan and India.


Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) wants to shift the whole tournament from Pakistan to another venue as the Indian government is not allowing their team to travel to Pakistan due to security concerns.

In a tit for tat move, Pakistan has also threatened India that if BCCI and Asian Cricket Council (ACC) do not resolve the issue on a happy note, then Pakistan also will not travel to India for the World Cup and will instead play their matches at a neutral venue.

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In this chaos, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman offered a bilateral test series on a neutral venue including England, Australia, South Africa or where ever India wants.


In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, Sethi had mentioned the possibility of arranging bilateral Test matches between the arch-rivals at neutral venues, citing the potential for a successful turnout in Australia or England.

“Yes, I think bilateral Test matches can be played in Australia, England, South Africa,” Sethi had said. “But I think the best bet would be England, and following that Australia. If you can get a house full in any of the Australian stadiums, fine, that would be great.”


However BCCI secretary Jay Shah refuses to play any kind of bilateral series with Pakistan, saying that they are not at the stage to play any kind of series in the future or in upcoming days.


The source reaffirmed the BCCI’s stance, making it clear that they are not ready to pursue any cricketing engagements with their Pakistani counterparts.


“No plans for such kind of series to happen in the future or upcoming days. We aren’t ready for any kind of bilateral series with Pakistan,” the BCCI source was quoted as saying.


Jay Shah is the son of BJP leader Amit Shah; the ruling party of India who do not want good relations with Pakistan.


Jay Shah is also the main person behind Asia Cup 2023 controversy between Pakistan and India.


Despite the extensive popularity of Pakistan-India matches at the box office, both arch-rivals have rarely met outside of major cricketing events due to political issues between the two nations. Their most recent bilateral series was in 2013, and they last played a Test match against each other in December 2007.