"My take is...."- Here's how Rohit Sharma reacted to India not travelling to Pakistan for Asia Cup 2023
The last few days have seen a lot of controversy after the statement by the secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, Jay Shah. The secretary said clearly that they are not looking to travel to Pakistan for the next edition of the Asia Cup 2023.
Notably, the next edition of the Asia Cup is scheduled to be played in Pakistan, and almost a week ago, some reports claimed that the BCCI was open to sending Team India to Pakistan for the tournament.
But after the conclusion of the 91st Annual General Meeting in Mumbai on October 18, it was said that the board was not willing to send India to Pakistan. That created a lot of controversy, and the Pakistan Cricket Board also reacted to the same. They sent a letter to the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) for an urgent meeting.
Some reports also suggested that the PCB was considering withdrawing from the ACC, and that if India does not come to the Asia Cup, Pakistan will also withdraw from the 2023 ODI World Cup, which is scheduled to take place in India next year.
Many former Pakistani players also showed their displeasure with that statement by the BCCI secretary. However, the same question was asked of the Indian skipper, Rohit Sharma, in a press conference on Saturday. The Indian skipper replied that the team is currently focusing on their next match against Pakistan.
He said, "My take is let's focus on this World Cup, because it is important for us. We are not worried about what's going to happen later. There is no point thinking about it, the BCCI will make decisions on that. We are just thinking about being focused on tomorrow's game."
The Men in Blue will open their campaign with a match against Pakistan on Sunday (October 23) at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The last time both teams met in a T20 World Cup was in UAE, and India faced a humiliating 10-wicket defeat at the hands of Pakistan.
So this time, they will prepare and will want to make up for that. Apart from that game, India will also face Netherlands and South Africa on October 27 and 30, respectively. Last two games for India are against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe on November 2 and 6.