Zaka Ashraf To Push For Pakistan's World Cup Matches To Be Held At Neutral Venues

Acting chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Zaka Ashraf, is expected to push for Pakistan's World Cup matches to be held at neutral venues at the ICC meetings in Durban.

Ahsan Mazari, the Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordinator (Sports), said, "Zaka Ashraf will bring up the issue of why can't Pakistan's matches in the World Cup be played at neutral venues when the Indian team can't travel to Pakistan for the Asia Cup."

India had earlier refused to play their Asia Cup matches in Pakistan owing to geopolitical tensions between the two countries. The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) had agreed to a hybrid model with Pakistan and Sri Lanka as co-hosts and India playing their matches in Sri Lanka.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had recently conveyed to the ICC and BCCI that their team's participation in the showpiece event will be subject to government clearance.

Ashraf is currently in Durban to attend the ICC meetings, where they will bring up India's objection to playing in Pakistan citing security reasons.

Ashraf confirmed the reports, and said, "I want our World Cup matches at neutral venues if India doesn't want to send its team to Pakistan for Asia Cup. If they have security problems in Pakistan, according to the Indian board, then we can also question the security situation in India."

Ashraf's predecessor Najam Sethi had proposed the hybrid model after which Sri Lanka was added as the second host where India would play their matches.

With the showpiece tournament just months away, it will be interesting to see the developments turn up after the new discussions.