'Humari bhi respect hai' Kamran Akmal on India refusing to travel to Pakistan for the Asia Cup

The BCCI has already confirmed that the Men in Blue would not be travelling to Pakistan for the 2023 Asia Cup, hence Pakistan will lose out on hosting India. Even if the event is held in a neutral location, Pakistan would retain the hosting rights. The Asia Cup’s previous two editions were held in neutral sites. The final decision on the Asia Cup location has been postponed until March, although India has declared that it would not travel to the neighbouring nation. In response to the BCCI’s decision not to come to Pakistan, Ramiz Raja, the head of the Pakistan Cricket Board until December 2022, threatened to withdraw from the World Cup. Numerous former cricketers have come out in support of Raja and warned Pakistan not to travel to India.

Kamran Akmal, who has visited India during his playing career, shares the same sentiment. Speaking on the Nadir Ali podcast, Kamran stated that Pakistan has respect for India and that they should not travel to India if the Rohit Sharma-led team withdraws from the Asia Cup. “If India does not agree to come for the Asia Cup, we should not go to India to play the 2023 WC there. Hamaari bhi respect hai (We are also well respected). We have been world champions too, have topped rankings in all formats and have won the Champions Trophy too. This is between two governments; until they are on the same page, the teams won’t go with each other. We have to see how long it goes,” Kamran said.

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6 teams to take part in the Asia Cup

In September-October 2023, the Asia Cup will be played in a 50-over format. Following the Asia Cup, India will host the World Cup in October-November of this year. There has been no formal announcement on Pakistan’s participation, and it remains to be seen if they would travel to the nation. The Men in Green did attend the 2016 T20 World Cup in India. The ongoing dispute between the BCCI and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) may soon come to an end, with India’s matches in the Asia Cup 2023 in the UAE. According to The Telegraph Online, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) seeks a rapid resolution to the dispute, which is why the compromise formula was presented. The Asia Cup final might possibly be staged in the UAE.

The event will include five full members of the Asian Cricket Council: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. They will be joined by the qualifying tournament winners. The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) revealed the route structure and schedule for 2023 and 2024 in January 2023, when they confirmed the event dates and format. Originally set for 2021, the event was pushed out to 2023 owing to a congested schedule, with Pakistan serving as the host. During a meeting with the ACC in June 2020, the PCB stated that they would be happy to allow Sri Lanka to host the 2020 Asia Cup, with India hesitant to go to Pakistan. The ACC released a press release following the meeting noting that “in view of the effects and repercussions of the COVID-19 epidemic, various venue choices for the Asia Cup 2020 were examined and it was resolved to take the final decision in due time”. The ACC issued a formal notification of the delay in July 2020.  The 2020 edition has been postponed to June 2021 in Sri Lanka.