“My 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,” Mazari instructed Indian Express. .
The upcoming ODI World Cup is scheduled to happen from October 5 to November 19. However, there’s a loss of readability on whether or not the Pakistan staff would trip to India to take part within the marquee match. According to the World Cup agenda launched via ICC, Pakistan will play their World Cup suits at 5 venues: Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore and Kolkata.
Mazari’s remarks got here after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif shaped a committee to talk about Pakistan’s participation within the World Cup.
“The committee will be headed by Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, and I am among the 11 ministers who are part of it. We 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,” he added.
On the impending Asia Cup, Mazari said, “Pakistan is the host, it has the right to hold all the matches in Pakistan. That is what the cricket lovers want, I don’t want a hybrid model.”
Expressing his confusion over India’s reluctance to play cricket suits in Pakistan, Mazari mentioned, “India brings sports into politics. I don’t understand why the Indian government doesn’t want to send their cricket team here. Some time back, a huge baseball contingent from India was in Islamabad to play. There was also the bridge team that had traveled to Pakistan. There were around 60 plus people. I was the chief guest of the event. They won here and left. Pakistan’s football, hockey, and chess teams also travel to India.
Responding to the BCCI’s cited “safety considerations,” Mazari highlighted the successful visits of other international teams to Pakistan, saying, “The New Zealand staff was once right here, sooner than that, the England cricket staff was once in Pakistan. They were given presidential safety. Earlier, The Indian staff was once given a hearty welcome via the fanatics right here. Security is an excuse. We additionally held the Pakistan Super League (PSL) that had such a lot of international gamers.”
(With inputs from IANS)