Pakistan: Ehsaan Mazari, Pakistan's minister in charge of sports, has stated that his nation will pull out of hosting the 2023 World Cup in India if India refuses to cross the border for the Asia Cup.

Mazari said, “My personal opinion, since the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) comes under my ministry, is that if India demands to play their Asia Cup games at a neutral venue, we would also demand the same for our World Cup games in India.”

The announcement was made a day after Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif established a well-known commission to investigate the country's participation in the World Cup that India is hosting in October-November. Sharing the committee's mandate, Mazari stated, “The committee will be headed by Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and I am among the 11 ministers who are part of it. We will discuss the issue and give our recommendations to the PM, who is also the patron-in-chief of PCB. The PM will take the final decision.”

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According to Mazari, who oversees the Ministry of Inter Provincial Coordination, which includes sports, the PM will likely receive the report from the Bhutto-led group sometime next week. At that time, Zaka Asharf, the new PCB chief, will also be in South Africa for a significant International Cricket Council (ICC) meeting. Discussions about the Asia Cup and World Cup are anticipated to take place while Jay Shah, the BCCI secretary and president of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), is also present in Durban for the meeting.

Although the Asia Cup schedule has not yet been released, it is known that Pakistan and Sri Lanka will co-host the competition, according to the ACC. All of India's games are anticipated to be played in Sri Lanka. Mazari, however, declared that he disagreed to this "hybrid model".  “Pakistan is the host, it has the right to hold all the matches in Pakistan. That is what the cricket lovers want, I don’t want a hybrid model,” he added.

The minister expressed his confusion over India's unwillingness to play cricket in Pakistan. “India brings sports into politics. I don’t understand why the Indian government doesn’t want to send their cricket team here. Some time back a huge baseball contingent from India was in Islamabad to play. There was also the bridge team that had travelled to Pakistan. There were around 60 plus people, I was the chief guest of the event. They won here and left. Pakistan’s football, hockey and chess teams also travel to India,” he said.

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When asked about India’s long-standing reservation about the security of their cricketers in Pakistan, Mazari says that “it wasn’t a solid argument”. “The New Zealand team was here, before that the England cricket team was in Pakistan. They got presidential security. Earlier, the Indian team was given a hearty welcome by the fans here. Security is an excuse. We also held the Pakistan Super League (PSL) that had so many foreign players,” he said.

Mazari appealed for the resumption of cricket tours between the two countries. “It is one the most-watched cricket games on TV. We want that, we want healthy cricket to be played. We expect a positive response from India,” he said.

Meanwhile, ICC, in the past, has urged Pakistan to travel to India for the World Cup. “Pakistan have signed a participation agreement to compete and we expect them to be there and have had no indications to the contrary,” an ICC statement. “All members have to abide by the rules and the laws of their country and we respect that. But we’re confident Pakistan will be in India for the Men’s Cricket World Cup.”

The minister also addressed the BCCI's decision to schedule Pakistan's World Cup match against India in Ahmedabad, which was mentioned by the previous PCB chairman Najam Sethi. Sethi had stated in an interview with this newspaper, "When I heard this statement (India to play Pakistan in Ahmedabad), I smiled and thought to myself, "This is one method to make sure we don't come to India.

Mazari expressed no such reservations. “I don’t think Ahmedabad will be an issue. Pakistan has played there earlier. But before that there should be a positive response from India. India should play in Pakistan. Zaka Ashraf (PCB chairman) has gone to South Africa and so let’s see what is decided and what happens,” he said.

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