Ehsaan Mazari says that if India demands to play the Asian Cup Games in a neutral venue, Pakistan will also demand the same for the World Cup games in India; Mazari is a member of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s committee set up to decide on the team’s participation.
The minister in charge of sports in Pakistan, Ehsaan Mazari, has said that if India avoids crossing the border for the Asian Cup, his country will withdraw from the 2023 World Cup in India.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Mazari said: “My personal opinion, since the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is under my ministry, is that if India demands to play its Asian Cup games at a neutral venue, we would also demand the same for our World Cup matches in India.”
The statement came a day after Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif formed a high-profile committee to dig deeper into the issue of the country’s participation in the October-November World Cup that India is hosting. Sharing the committee’s mandate, Mazari said, “The committee will be headed by Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and I am among the 11 ministers on it. We will discuss the issue and give our recommendations to the PM, who is also the chief pattern of PCBs. The prime minister will make the final decision.”
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Mazari, who heads the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination which has sports under its umbrella, said the Bhutto-led committee was likely to share its report with the prime minister any time next week. That will also be the time when new PCB boss Zaka Asharf will attend an important International Cricket Council (ICC) meeting in South Africa. With BCCI Secretary Jay Shah, who is also the head of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), also in Durban for the meeting, a discussion on the Asian Cup and World Cup is expected to take place.
While the schedule for the Asia Cup is not yet available, it is known that there is a general consensus in the ACC that the event will be co-hosted by Pakistan and Sri Lanka. India is expected to play all its matches in Sri Lanka. However, Mazari said that he was not in favor of this ‘hybrid model’. “Pakistan is the host, it has the right to hold all the matches in Pakistan. That’s what cricket lovers want, I don’t want a hybrid model,” he said.
The minister said that India’s reluctance to play cricket in Pakistan puzzled him. “India brings sports into politics. I don’t understand why the Indian government doesn’t want to send their cricket team here. Some time ago, a large baseball contingent from India was in Islamabad to play. There was also the bridge team that had traveled to Pakistan. There were about 60 people or more, I was the main guest of the event. Here they won and left. Pakistani football, hockey and chess teams also travel to India,” he said.
When asked about India’s long-standing reservation about the safety of its cricketers in Pakistan, Mazari says it was “not a strong argument.” “The New Zealand team was here, before that the England cricket team was in Pakistan. They have presidential security. Earlier, the Indian team received a warm welcome from the fans here. Security is an excuse. We also celebrated the Pakistan Super League (PSL) which had so many foreign players,” he said.
Mazari called for the resumption of cricket tours between the two countries. “It is one of the most watched cricket games on television. We want that, we want healthy cricket to be played. We expect a positive response from India,” he said.
Meanwhile, ICC has, in the past, urged Pakistan to travel to India for the World Cup. “Pakistan has signed a participation agreement to compete and we expect them to be there and we have had no indication to the contrary,” an ICC statement. “All members must abide by the rules and laws of their country and we respect that. But we are confident that Pakistan will be in India for the Men’s Cricket World Cup.”
The minister also reacted to previous PCB Chairman Najam Sethi’s comment on BCCI’s placement in Pakistan’s World Cup match against India in ahmedabad. In an interview to this newspaper, Sethi said, “When I heard this statement (India will play Pakistan in Ahmedabad), I smiled and said to myself, ‘this is a way to make sure we don’t come to India.’
Mazari did not express any such reservations. “I don’t think Ahmedabad is a problem. Pakistan has played there before. But before that there should be a positive response from India. India should play Pakistan. Zaka Ashraf (PCB Chairman) has gone to South Africa, so let’s see what is decided and what happens,” he said.
First published in: 2023-09-07 00:38 IST