ACC President Jay Shah 'Hits Back' At Former PCB Chairman Najam Sethi's 'Asia Cup' Remark
Jay Shah seen with Zaka Ashraf in a recent ICC meeting [X.com]
The situation between both the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is undergoing turbulent times lately.
While current BCCI president Roger Binny and vice-president Rajeev Shukla are creating an atmosphere for bilateral talks in Lahore, former PCB chairman Najam Sethi and BCCI secretary and Asian Cricket Council chief Jay Shah are at loggerheads over the handing of the ongoing Asia Cup 2023.
With most Asia Cup matches in Sri Lanka is affected by rains, Sethi accused Shah and other ACC members of not agreeing to move the tournament to UAE in a series of posts on 'X'.
Now, Shah has hit back at Sethi, explaining why the hybrid model preferred Sri Lanka over UAE in a long statement. The ACC President stated that weather conditions in UAE would have hampered players preparation for the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 scheduled in India next month.
Here's what Shah said
“The Asia Cup 2022 edition was played in the UAE in the T20 format. It’s important to emphasize that the dynamics of a T20 tournament cannot be directly compared to those of a 100-over One-day format. In this context, ACC members received feedback from their respective high-performance teams, expressing concerns about playing One-day matches in the UAE in the month of September. Such a schedule could have potentially led to player fatigue and an increased risk of injuries, particularly right before the all-important ICC Cricket World Cup,”
The BCCI secretary further provided insight into how the hybrid model was agreed upon in the first place, and what all obstacles ACC faced.
“In my capacity as ACC President, I was committed to finding a viable and mutually agreeable solution. To this end, I had accepted the hybrid model that was proposed by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in collaboration with the ACC management. However, it’s important to note that the leadership of the PCB underwent several changes, and this resulted in some back-and-forth negotiations, particularly regarding crucial aspects such as tax exemption and insurance for matches,”
Rain continues to be a massive hurdle for the Super Fours as well, with forecast not being conducive to playing in Colombo.
 "Vishal Mehra")