India Won’t Travel To Pakistan For Asia Cup, Says BCCI; Roger Binny Takes Over As Prez

Mumbai: India won’t travel to Pakistan to take part in the Asia Cup scheduled to be held there in 2023.

There were some reports that the Indian government might give the nod to Men in Blue to tour Pakistan after 17 long years. But Asian Cricket Council president Jay Shah stated there was no such possibility after he was re-elected secretary of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) at its AGM on Tuesday.

Thanks to strained political tension between the two countries, the last time the Indian cricket team visited Pakistan was in 2006, when Rahul Dravid-led side lost the Test series 0-1 but clinched the ODI series 4-1. And the last time the two nations played a bilateral series was in 2013, when Pakistan toured India.

According to Shah, next year’s Asia Cup could be held at a neutral venue. This comes as a result of cricket relations being strained due to political tensions between the two countries.

The two teams have, however, been facing off in ICC tournaments, at neutral venues. The next edition of the high-voltage India versus Pakistan clash will come off on Sunday, in the ICC T20 World Cup at Melbourne.

Roger Binny succeeds Sourav Ganguly as BCCI president

Meanwhile, Roger Binny officially took charge as BCCI’s 36th president after being elected unopposed at the AGM here.

The 67-year-old former World Cup-winning allrounder replaces Sourav Ganguly.

Binny, who played 27 Tests and 72 ODIs for India between 1979 and 1987, has been an administrator with Karnataka State Cricket Association, serving as president since 2019. He was also a national selector.

NEWLY-ELECTED BCCI OFFICE-BEARERS

President: Roger Binny

Vice-president: Rajeev Shukla

Secretary: Jay Shah

Joint secretary: Devajit Saikia

Treasurer: Ashish Shelar.

Note: Arun Singh Dhumal will take over as IPL chairman.