Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief and ACC president Mohsin Naqvi recently addressed the issue, making it clear that Pakistan would not seek to restore cricketing ties under unequal terms.In a shocking declaration, Mohsin Naqvi, the head of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), stated that they would no longer beg India to restore their sporting relations.
Since 2012, India and Pakistan have not played cricket together; instead, they exclusively compete in multi-nation tournaments organized by the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) or the International Cricket Council (ICC).
The BCCI made the decision earlier this year not to send the Indian squad to the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan. Pakistan will not visit India for any competition until at least 2027, including the 2025 Women’s World Cup and the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup, the PCB responded.
India had also refused to travel to Pakistan for the Asia Cup in 2023, but Pakistan sent their team for the World Cup the same year, in hopes that India would come to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy 2025. However, when BCCI refused to send the Indian team to Pakistan, the PCB refused to replicate the same for the T20 World Cup 2026 and for future tournaments. After a long send-off, it was decided that both teams will clash on neutral venues in ICC and ACC tournaments till 2027.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) owns the hosting rights for this year’s Asia Cup, and Mohsin Naqvi is the current president of the ACC. Any future discussions between India and Pakistan, according to Mohsin Naqvi, will only take place on equal footing.
PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi takes strong stance on cricketing ties with Team India ahead of Asia Cup 2025
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Mohsin Naqvi has ruled out the possibility of PCB ‘begging’ BCCI for resuming bilateral ties. India-Pakistan is the biggest-selling cricket game, but the bilateral cricket ties between the two countries have been suspended for more than a decade due to India’s strong stance against Pakistan-sponsored terrorism.
Despite the tense political ties between the countries, they continue to play in ICC events and the Asia Cup. There were doubts whether India would even play Pakistan in these tournaments after the Pahalgam attack, but the Indian government cleared that sporting ties in multinational events will continue as they are bound by international sports governing bodies.
The ministry also confirmed that players and teams from Pakistan will be able to compete the events hosted by India; however, it made a clear statement that there will be no bilateral sporting ties between the countries.
“In so far as bilateral sports events in each other’s country are concerned, Indian teams will not be participating in competitions in Pakistan. Nor will we permit Pakistani teams to play in India,” the ministry’s statement said.
“With regard to international and multilateral events, in India or abroad, we are guided by the practices of international sports bodies and the interest of our own sportspersons. It is also relevant to take into account India’s emergence as a credible venue to host international sports events.
“Accordingly, Indian teams and individual players will take part in international events that also have teams or players from Pakistan. Similarly, Pakistani players and teams will be able to participate in such multilateral events hosted by India.
India’s sports ministry recently announced a new policy that will halt all bilateral sporting connections with Pakistan, including at neutral venues. They can still compete in multinational events, however. This implies that the Asia Cup match between India and Pakistan will proceed as planned.
India will kick off their campaign against the UAE on September 10, while the high-voltage game against Pakistan is scheduled for September 14, with both fixtures set to be played in Dubai. India will play their final group stage fixture against Oman on September 19 in Abu Dhabi.
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