Jay Shah, the BCCI’s secretary, provides a significant update on whether India would visit Pakistan for the 2023 Asia Cup.

The BCCI secretary Jay Shah has provided a significant update on whether the Indian cricket team would cross the border to compete in the event in 2023 when the Asia Cup is slated to be hosted in Pakistan. India, who last visited Pakistan in 2006, will have to wait longer since, according to Shah, the decision to hold the event at a neutral location was made at the 91st Annual General Meeting in Mumbai on Tuesday.

The BCCI secretary and ACC president Jay Shah stated, “Neutral venue for Asia Cup is not unusual and we have decided that we would not go to Pakistan. We won’t comment on whether the government will allow our squad to go to Pakistan since that is a government decision, but the 2023 Asia Cup will be hosted at a neutral location.

According to the earlier-released FTP, Pakistan is slated to host two significant ICC tournaments over the next three years: the Champions Trophy in 2025 and the Asia Cup, which would be played in a 50-over format and precede the 2023 World Cup. This is the first time that Pakistan has been honored with the hosting rights of two significant ICC tournaments since cricket was reinstated there after a ten-year hiatus. But now that the BCCI has announced a neutral location, it is unclear what will happen next or how the PCB and other authorities would respond.

The news is a full 180-degree swing from last week’s rumors, which indicated that India might visit Pakistan. According to a Cricbuzz source, a memo was sent to all state associations mentioning the Asia Cup in Pakistan as one of the competitions the Indian squad was anticipated to attend. According to a BCCI spokesman, “it will be subject to the permission of the Government of India as usual.” It turns out that this was untrue.

The cricket match between India and Pakistan has always been eagerly anticipated. But unlike the 1980s, 1990s, and the early 2000s, when IND-PAK ties were plentiful, bilateral series between the two have been completely abandoned as a result of political problems between the two countries. In the ten years since their previous bilateral series, which took place in 2012–13, India and Pakistan have only faced off 10 times, all of which took place at ICC tournaments.

When questioned in August about the likelihood of a bilateral series between the two countries ahead of the Asia Cup, India’s skipper Rohit Sharma said: “I would have reacted if I had been given the chance to. These choices are made by respectable boards. This is not in our hands but if boards decide to play, then we will play.”