Follow UsWith the ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan escalating further due to the Pahalgam attacks, former India captain Sunil Gavaskar reckons that he does not see Pakistan being part of the upcoming edition of the Asia Cup.
The eight-team event will be jointly hosted by India and Pakistan. Regardless, Pakistan will not play their matches in India, given that the PCB and BCCI have agreed on a hybrid model for multi-team events.
“BCCI's stance has always been what the government of India tells them to do. So I don't think it would be any different when it comes to the Asia Cup.," he said in a chat with Sports Today.
"India and Sri Lanka are the hosts for this particular edition of the Asia Cup, so it depends on whether things have changed at all, but if things haven't changed, I can't see Pakistan now being part of the Asia Cup, which is going to be hosted by India and Sri Lanka."
Gavaskar further went on to say that the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) could be disbanded, paving way for a four or five-team event instead of the Asia Cup.
"I don't know how it will be. It might be that the Asian Cricket Council could well be disbanded, and you could just have a three-nation tour, that could well have a three-nation tournament, or a four-nation tournament with maybe Hong Kong or UAE being invited. So that could well happen, the Asian Cricket Council could well be disbanded. But I think it is dependent on what happens in the next couple of months," Gavaskar said.
“It could well happen that India decides to pull out of the Asian Cricket Council that could well happen. We can say look we're going to have a 4 nation tournament or a 5 nation tournament in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and it could be, it could well be that if the tournament is held in Bangladesh, the tournament is held in Sri Lanka, but obviously India is going to be the host, then India will host it in India."
The Asia Cup is expected to be played in October this year. The exact dates for the tournament are yet to be finalised.