Karachi(PTI): In a desperate bid to host some matches of the Asia Cup in Pakistan, the PCB is now trying to convince the Asian Cricket Council to allocate just four first round games in Pakistan or else they would have no option but to pull-out of continental body.
PCB chairman Najam Srthi's 'Hybrid Model' of Pakistan playing its home games apart from India encounter, in their own country, has been rejected by other member nations. PCB, in turn, has rejected the idea of hosting Asia Cup games in Sri Lanka.
"Yes, Najam Sethi as part of the plan B of the hybrid model proposed by us for the Asia Cup has informed the ACC this week in Dubai that PCB would be satisfied hosting four games at home," a reliable source close to the cricket board said.
He said Sethi had also conveyed to the ACC in Dubai that if even this plan B of the PCB was rejected by ACC members then Pakistan would neither play in the Asia Cup and also withdraw from the Asian Cricket Council.
Sethi, according to the source, has proposed a Pakistan versus Nepal match and Afghanistan versus Bangladesh, Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka and Sri Lanka v Bangladesh matches in Pakistan.
The source also added that Sethi had told the ACC officials that PCB would be happy playing most of its remaining matches in Dubai and the tournament's majority games can be held in Dubai including the final.
"The one challenge now facing the ACC and us as hosts is that Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and India are insisting the event shouldn't be held in UAE in September as the weather is very hot," the source said.
"In the recent past, BCCI has organized the entire (half) of IPL in UAE between September and November (in 2021) while the last two Asia Cups have also been held in UAE during the same period," the PCB source reminded.
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Kolkata: Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly Suvendu Adhikari has sparked controversy after stating that Bangladesh should be taught a “lesson like Israel has taught Gaza.”
Adhikari made the remark while speaking to reporters outside the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata on Friday, December 26. “These people must be taught a lesson, just like Israel taught Gaza. Our 100 crore Hindus and the government working in the interest of Hindus must teach them a lesson just as we taught Pakistan a lesson in Operation Sindoor,” he said.
The statement came amid protests being held outside the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission since December 22, following the lynching of Dipu Chandra Das, a 27-year-old garment factory worker in Bangladesh. Das was killed on December 18 in the Mymensingh district, where his body was allegedly hung from a tree and set on fire in public view.
Adhikari was part of a five-member delegation that met senior officials of the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission on Friday. Speaking after the meeting, he claimed that the diplomats had “no answer to most of his questions” related to the killing and the situation of minorities in Bangladesh.
Reacting to his comments, the All India Trinamool Congress accused the BJP of promoting hate and intolerance. In a post on X, the party described Adhikari’s remarks as hate speech and alleged that they amounted to a call for violence, while also questioning the absence of legal action against him.
Adhikari’s statement has added to political tensions in West Bengal and raised concerns over inflammatory rhetoric linked to sensitive international and communal issues.
The @BJP4India’s Bengal ‘face’ wants a Gaza like operation against Bangladesh. Dog whistles that the @narendramodi government is for ‘Hindus’ only. Do you concur with this @narendramodi @DrSJaishankar ? Dirty politics of Divide and Rule won’t work in Bengal, @SuvenduWB pic.twitter.com/vLWm9b3AXb
— Sagarika Ghose (@sagarikaghose) December 27, 2025
