File photo of Najam Sethi
The Pakistan Cricket Board’s request of venue changes for the matches against Afghanistan, Australia and India was rejected by the International Cricket Council as the ODI World Cup 2023 schedule was announced on Tuesday. With their matches being held at the same venue that was proposed in the draft schedule, there are a few in the PCB who aren’t entirely happy. Former Pakistan star Kamran Akmal has slammed the board over its ‘stupidity’, suggesting ICC was right to reject the request for venue changes.
In a video on his YouTube channel, Akmal said that the ICC was right to turn down the PCB’s request as other boards could’ve also demanded something similar.
“Pakistan requested to swap their venues for group matches against Australia and Afghanistan. They were also apparently not willing to face India in Ahmedabad. However, the ICC rejected the request, which was the right thing to do. It is quite wrong if PCB had made such a request,” said Kamran.
“It is an ICC event, so please let the ICC decide where the matches should take place. If the ICC had agreed to change the venues, the other boards would have also asked for such changes. It is just stupid if such a request was made,” he added, slamming the PCB.
After the World Cup schedule announcement, the Pakistan board said that it is yet to get government clearance over World Cup participation in India. The ICC responded to the statement from PCB, reminding them of the ‘participation agreement’ it has already signed.
“Pakistan have signed a participation agreement to compete and we expect them to be there and have had no indications to the contrary,” said a statement from ICC on the matter.
“All Members have to abide by the rules and the laws of their country and we respect that. But we’re confident Pakistan will be in India for the Men’s Cricket World Cup,” added the statement.
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