Karachi: In a desperate bid to host some matches of the Asia Cup in Pakistan, the PCB is now trying to convince the Asian Cricket Council to allocate just four first-round games in Pakistan or else they would have no option but to pull-out of continental body. PCB chairman Najam Sethi's 'Hybrid Model' of Pakistan playing its home games apart from India encounter, in their own country, has been rejected by other member nations.
PCB, in turn, has rejected the idea of hosting Asia Cup games in Sri Lanka. "Yes, Najam Sethi as part of the plan B of the hybrid model proposed by us for the Asia Cup has informed the ACC this week in Dubai that PCB would be satisfied hosting four games at home," a reliable source close to the cricket board said.
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He said Sethi had also conveyed to the ACC in Dubai that if even this plan B of the PCB was rejected by ACC members then Pakistan would neither play in the Asia Cup and also withdraw from the Asian Cricket Council. Sethi, according to the source, has proposed a Pakistan versus Nepal match and Afghanistan versus Bangladesh, Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka and Sri Lanka v Bangladesh matches in Pakistan.
The source also added that Sethi had told the ACC officials that PCB would be happy playing most of its remaining matches in Dubai and the tournament's majority games can be held in Dubai including the final. "The one challenge now facing the ACC and us as hosts is that Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and India are insisting the event shouldn't be held in UAE in September as the weather is very hot," the source said.
"In the recent past, BCCI has organized the entire (half) of IPL in UAE between September and November (in 2021) while the last two Asia Cups have also been held in UAE during the same period," the PCB source reminded. (PTI)
