Men in Blue will not be travelling to Pakistan for the upcoming Asia Cup 2023, Asian Cricket Council chief Jay Shah said on the sidelines of the 91st BCCI Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Mumbai on Tuesday.
The 2023 Asia Cup is slated to be hosted by Pakistan and as per media reports, the BCCI was open to sending the Indian team to take part in the tournament. However, Shah, who is also the BCCI secretary, said that the 2023 Asia Cup may be played in a neutral venue and not in Pakistan.
India had toured Pakistan for a bilateral series in 2005-06 under the leadership of Rahul Dravid. India and Pakistan have not played a bilateral cricket series since 2012-13 when Pakistan had toured India for three T20Is and as many ODIs. Both teams have not played in bilateral series since then. The arch-rivals have just met in world events or Asia Cup.
Meanwhile, the Rohit Sharma-led Team India is set to lock horns with arch-rivals Pakistan in their T20 World Cup 2022 tournament opener at the iconic MCG ground on October 23.
Notably, matches between the two sides are always highly anticipated and stadiums go jam-packed. The tickets of the October 23 match were sold out within hours of its release.