Legendary batter Sunil Gavaskar has made a bold prediction that the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) might get disbanded, amid mounting political tensions between India and Pakistan following the terror attack in Pahalgam’s Jammu and Kashmir, where 26 tourists were killed. India are co-hosts, alongside Sri Lanka, for this year’s Asia Cup. While the dates and venues for the event are yet to be confirmed, a report recent claimed that the Asia Cup might not take place this year owing to tensions between India and Pakistan.
Gavaskar was also of the opinion that if the Asia Cup does take place this year, it is highly unlikely for Pakistan to take part in the continental event.
“BCCI’s stance has always been what the government of India tells them to do. So I don’t think it would be any different when it comes to the Asia Cup. India and Sri Lanka are the hosts for this particular edition of the Asia Cup, so it depends on whether things have changed at all, but if things haven’t changed, I can’t see Pakistan now being part of the Asia Cup, which is going to be hosted by India and Sri Lanka,” Gavaskar told Sports Today.
Gavaskar also suggested that the ACC might get dissolved if the situation doesn’t improve.
“I don’t know how it will be. It might be that the Asian Cricket Council could well be disbanded, and you could just have a three-nation tour, that could well have a three-nation tournament, or a four-nation tournament with maybe Hong Kong or UAE being invited. So that could well happen, the Asian Cricket Council could well be disbanded. But I think it is dependent on what happens in the next couple of months,” he added.
Gavaskar also pointed out that if India pulls out of the Asia Cup, they might invite other Asian teams for a multi-nation event in India.
“It could well happen that India decides to pull out of the Asian Cricket Council that could well happen. We can say look we’re going to have a 4 nation tournament or a 5 nation tournament in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and it could be, it could well be that if the tournament is held in Bangladesh, the tournament is held in Sri Lanka, but obviously India is going to be the host, then India will host it in India,” he added.
“I won’t be surprised at all if the Asian Cricket Council gets disbanded with what’s been happening. I mean if you’ve got two countries, you know, fighting against each other, then it’s, it’s a little bit difficult to, to play sport with each other,” Gavaskar explained.
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