The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) recently invited Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah, president of the ACC (Asian Cricket Council), to come to Pakistan as a guest for the opening match of the 2023 Asia Cup between Pakistan and Nepal in Multan on August 30. Apart from Shah, PCB has also sent invitations for the Asia Cup 2023 opening match to board chiefs of nations associated with the Asian Cricket Council. The move from PCB comes as a big surprise as Asia Cup, for the first time ever, will be played in a hybrid model after BCCI's refusal to send team India to Pakistan for the continental tournament. It seems like by inviting Shah, PCB wants to present themselves as someone who does not mix sports with politics.
On July 19, BCCI's Jay Shah, ACC (Asian Cricket Council) president, announced the official schedule for Asia Cup 2023. The six-team tournament will kickstart on August 30. Pakistan will host four matches on their home soil while the remaining nine games, including the final, will be hosted by Sri Lanka.
As per exclusively reported by Times Now, a BCCI official confirmed that Jay Shah received an invitation from PCB but the board is yet to decide whether he will travel to Pakistan or not.
"Invitation aya hai, dekhte hai. Meeting karenge is baare mein (Yes, there's an invitation; we will see. There will be a meeting in his regard)," a BCCI official told Times Now.
Team India will begin their Asia Cup 2023 campaign with a match against Pakistan on September 2. Six teams participating in the tournament have been divided into two groups - Group A and Group B. Nepal, India and Pakistan are in Group A, while Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Bangladesh are in Group B. The top two teams from each group (four teams in total) will qualify for the Super-4 round. From there, two teams will square off in the Asia Cup 2023 final.