Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has hit back at Jay Shah, the the president of Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and the BCCI Secretary, over his recent comment wherein Shah had stated that the reasons for conducting the Asia Cup 2023 partially in Sri Lanka was because of “concerns related to the security”.
The Asia Cup 2023 was initially set to be hosted by Pakistan, but now is being played in a hybrid model where only 4 matches take place in Pakistan and rest 9 games in Sri Lanka. While Jay Shah didn’t mention explicitly that the Indian government wouldn’t allow for Team India players to travel to Pakistan, he said in a statement that there had been security concerns raised by some stakeholders and media personnels.
“All the full members, media rights holders, and in-stadium rights holders were initially hesitant to commit to hosting the entire tournament in Pakistan. This reluctance stemmed from concerns related to the security and economic situation prevailing in the country,” Jay Shah said in a statement recently.
Shahid Afridi was taken aback by this comment from Shah and responded in strong words on Twitter.
Shahid Afridi tags Jay Shah in his tweet
Shahid Afridi pointed out that many high-profile teams, including England and Australia, have completed successful tours of Pakistan in recent years. Pakistan is scheduled to host the Champions Trophy 2025, but India is unlikely to send their team to Pakistan, which would further matters complex for the boards and other teams as well.
Shahid Afridi tweeted: “I came across Mr @JayShah’s statement about security situation in Pakistan. Just to refresh his memory, Pakistan has hosted the following foreign players/teams in the past six years:
2017 – ICC World XI & SL
2018 – WI
2019 – WI (W), BD (W) & SL
2020 – BD, PSL, MCC & Zim
2021 – WI, PSL, SA & WI
2022 – Aus, PSL, WI, BD U19, Ireland (W) & Eng (2),
2023 – NZ (2), PSL, Women’s Exhibition Matches, #AsiaCup2023 (Nep, SL, Afg & BD) & SA (W)
Have no doubts Mr Shah, Pakistan is ready to host @BCCI at the #ICCChampionsTrophy2025″
I came across Mr @JayShah’s statement about security situation in Pakistan. Just to refresh his memory, Pakistan has hosted the following foreign players/teams in the past six years:
2017 – ICC World XI & SL
2018 – WI
2019 – WI (W), BD (W) & SL
2020 – BD, PSL, MCC & Zim
2021 –…— Shahid Afridi (@SAfridiOfficial) September 6, 2023
Meanwhile, the Asia Cup 2023 is under threat of being washed out. The tournament has now moved into the Super 4 round, and all the remaining matches are to be played in Colombo, but the weather in Colombo is forecasted for heavy rains in the coming week.
