NEW DELHI
\nMinister for Inter-provincial Coordination Ehsan-ur-Rehman Mazari wants India to play their Asia Cup matches in Pakistan.
\nAs the head of the IPC ministry, which oversees the country\u2019s sports at the federal level, Mazari has been appointed as one of the members of a high-profile committee constituted by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to contemplate over the Pakistan\u2019s participation in the upcoming World Cup in India.
\nThe Asia Cup is scheduled to be co-hosted by Pakistan and Sri Lanka a month before the World Cup starts.
\nOriginally, however, Pakistan was awarded the rights to host the regional tournament in its entirety but India\u2019s refusal to play in the country forced its cricket board to settle with a \u201chybrid model\u201d that would see it hold four matches at home before the tournament moves to Sri Lanka, where India will feature.
\nMazari, while reiterating his \u201cpersonal\u201d stance against the model, believed that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) should continue its pursuit for its rights as the only hosts of the Asia Cup adding that India should travel across the border instead.
\nHe hinted discussions regarding the demand can take place in the upcoming ICC meeting, to attend which the PCB\u2019s newly-appointed interim Management Committee chairman Zaka Ashraf has flown to Durban, South Africa.
\n\u201cIndia should play in Pakistan,\u201d Mazari was quoted as saying by the Indian Express on Sunday. \u201cZaka Ashraf has gone to South Africa and so let\u2019s see what is decided and what happens.
\n\u201cPakistan is the host, it has the right to hold all the matches in Pakistan. That is what the cricket lovers want; I don\u2019t want a hybrid model.\u201d
\nFor Mazari, India\u2019s reservations over travelling to Pakistan citing security concerns were uncalled for and the minister said the former had no \u201csolid argument\u201d to not play in the country.
\n\u201cThe New Zealand team was here, before that the England cricket team was in Pakistan,\u201d he observed. \u201cThey got presidential security.
\n\u201cEarlier, the Indian team was given a hearty welcome by the fans here.
\n\u201cSecurity is an excuse. We also held the Pakistan Super League (PSL) that had so many foreign players.\u201d
\nWhile the Asian Cricket Council has already announced the Asia Cup\u2019s dates and that it will be co-hosted by Pakistan and Sri Lanka, the tournament\u2019s schedule is yet to be released.
\nDuring Najam Sethi\u2019s tenure as the Management Committee\u2019s chairman \u2014 who proposed the \u201chybrid model\u201d in the first place \u2014 the PCB had threatened to withdraw the national side from the World Cup had India not accepted the model.
\nThe Sethi-led PCB, however, relaxed the stance after the model was accepted. With Zaka in charge now, Mazari hinted that the board may consider going back to the previous approach.
\n\u201cMy personal opinion, since the Pakistan Cricket Board comes under my ministry, is that if India demands to play their Asia Cup games at a neutral venue, we would also demand the same for our World Cup games in India,\u201d he said.
\nThe high-profile committee set to decide over Pakistan\u2019s World Cup fate will be headed by Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto and its recommendations will be reviewed by Shehbaz himself before the premier makes the final call. Mazari said he would voice his take in front of the committee members.
\n\u201cThe committee will be headed by Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and I am among the 11 ministers who are part of it,\u201d he said. \u201cWe will discuss the issue and give our recommendations to the PM, who is also the patron-in-chief of PCB. The PM will take the final decision.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEW DELHI Minister for Inter-provincial Coordination Ehsan-ur-Rehman Mazari wants India to play their Asia Cup matches in Pakistan. As the head of the IPC ministry, which oversees the country\u2019s sports at the federal level, Mazari has been appointed as one of the members of a high-profile committee constituted by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to contemplate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":342486,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-342458","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n