ODI WC 2023: Najam Sethi on Pak tie in Gujarat, ‘this is one way to make sure we don’t come to India’

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Najam Sethi vowed that Pakistan may not travel to India in the ODI World Cup if their high-voltage clash takes place at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. It is suggested that Pakistan are reluctant to travel to India if they avoid coming to their land for the Asia Cup 2023 in September.

"When I heard that the Pakistan match was to be in Ahmedabad, I smiled and said to myself – ‘this is one way to make sure we don’t come to India’. I mean if you’d said Chennai or Kolkata, it might have made sense," Sethi told Indian Express.

"I don’t want to go into the politics of it but certainly there seems to be a political angle to this because if there’s one city where we might have security issues, it’s Ahmedabad. And therefore, I think the less said about that, the better. It gave the impression that this was a red herring that was thrown in our way to tell us, ‘hey, we are going to play you in Ahmedabad and you watch out. You know who rules Ahmedabad," he added.

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Hybrid model rejected

According to the latest reports, the hybrid model is set to be rejected by the BCCI and other member nations of the Asia Cricket Council (ACC), giving a big blow to Pakistan as they prepare to host the Asia Cup. With India not traveling to Pakistan and the hybrid model rejected, the speculations of the Asia Cup moving outside the current host nation have intensified.

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Pakistan could be given a major blow in the coming days as Sri Lanka could host the Asia Cup.

The Asia Cup is all set to be hosted by Pakistan in September but there is no official word on whether they have been dropped as hosts. On the flip side, the ODI World Cup plans are already on the cards as BCCI is reported to have proposed the Narendra Modi Stadium as the venue for the league stage encounter on October 15.

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