Asia Cup likely to be moved out of Pakistan, venue to be finalised in March
New Delhi, Feb 4: The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) is expected to shift Asia Cup from Pakistan and decide on an alternate venue in March as BCCI secretary Jay Shah and PCB chairman Najam Sethi discussed the issue during a formal meeting in Bahrain on Saturday.
All heads of ACC member nations attended the emergent meeting which was called at the behest of Sethi after the continental body released its itinerary and Pakistan wasn't named the hosts for the Asia Cup.
The Asia Cup was initially allotted to Pakistan and was scheduled in September this year but Shah, who is also the ACC chairman, had announced last October that India will not travel to Pakistan due diplomatic tension between the two nations.
"The ACC had a constructive dialogue on the upcoming Asia Cup 2023. The Board agreed to continue discussions on operations, timelines and any other specifics with a view to ensure the success of the tournament. An update on the matter would be taken on the next ACC Executive Board Meeting to be held in March 2023," ACC said in a statement.
While a decision will come only next month, a senior BCCI official privy to the development told PTI that it is highly unlikely that Pakistan will host the tournament.
"With India deciding against travelling to Pakistan, the tournament will have to be shifted. A tournament without Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill will have the sponsors back out," the official said.
One ACC insider said Sethi has just taken over PCB and if he had ceded ground on the hosting rights in the first meeting itself, then it would have led to a bad impression at home.
Pakistan is currently going through an economic crisis. The inflation has hit the country very hard as one USD is now equal to 277 Pakistani Rupee.
Organising a high-profile tournament like Asia Cup, even if ACC pays a grant could burn a hole in PCB coffers.
So strategically, if the tournament is held in the UAE, there is every possibility that all the member nations will also get to earn apart from the broadcast revenues.
In another decision, the ACC has decided to increase the annual budget allocated for Afghanistan Cricket Association to 15 percent from six.
The ACC has assured that it will help the Afghanistan board in all possible ways so that women's cricket can be revived in the country. Women are banned from playing sport under Taliban rule.
The Executive Board also approved of the inclusion of teams from Japan and Indonesia in the ACC pathway tournaments to participate in the events as invitees.
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Women BJP MLAs protest against opposition in UP assembly premises
Lucknow (PTI): Women BJP MLAs held a protest in the Vidhan Bhawan complex before the one-day special session of Uttar Pradesh assembly, slamming the opposition for defeating the passage of a bill, which would have led to implementation of the Women's Reservation Law, in the Lok Sabha.
This followed another demonstration by Samajwadi Party MLAs, who alleged that the BJP was misleading public in the name of women's reservation.
The women BJP legislators assembled in front of Chaudhary Charan Singh's statue in the assembly premises, holding banners inscribed with the slogan "Insult to Matrushakti (women's power), India will not tolerate it". The protesting members entered the main hall of Vidhan Bhawan carrying the banners.
Participating in the protest, the state Minister for Women Welfare and Child Development, Baby Rani Maurya, told reporters that all opposition parties, including the Samajwadi Party and the Congress, had opposed the women's reservation, a stance for which they would have to pay a heavy political price.
"On this issue, all of us women stand united. We will ensure that we secure our reservation," she said.
BJP MLA Ketki Singh remarked that their protest represents the collective outrage of millions of women across the state.
Singh asserted that the opposition has betrayed women by creating hurdles in the path of women's reservation. The current demonstration is merely the beginning, and very soon, women from every street, intersection and household will join the protest movement, she said.
Minister Vijaylakshmi Gautam said, "We strongly condemn the despicable act committed by the Samajwadi Party and the Congress in an attempt to hold back 'half the population' (women). Their action was directed against the very bill that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had introduced to empower and strengthen Nari Shakti (women's power), and which he strived to pass expeditiously."
Uttar Pradesh assembly is holding a one-day special session on Thursday. During the session, the government is set to move a censure motion against the opposition parties over their failure to pass the Constitution Amendment Bill, which would have led to implementation of the Women's Reservation Act, in the Lok Sabha.
