CricketViewer.com

They may be taking the hosting rights of the Asia Cup for granted but fears have emerged that the Pakistani cricket officials might face a tough time in keeping the troubled tournament at home as at least one of the competing nations has raised security concerns.

Sources told ‘The News’ that Sri Lanka have expressed reservations about competing in the Asia Cup which is pencilled in for this summer in Pakistan, saying that the country could be unsafe for its cricketers.

Pakistan are already bracing for Australia’s pull-out from a bilateral series which is scheduled to start later this month and a similar problem related to the Asia Cup will come as a back-breaking jolt for them.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) recently announced the dates and schedule of the Asia Cup according to which the tournament will be played in Lahore and Karachi from June 25-July 6. Last month, Asia’s top cricket-playing nations — India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh — confirmed their participation in the event.

Associate members Hong Kong and United Arab Emirates will also feature in the tournament which is being held for the first time since Sri Lanka hosted it in 2004.A top PCB official had said last week that the competing teams have complete faith in Pakistan’s ability to provide their players and officials with a fool-proof security blanket during the course of the tournament.

Shafqat Naghmi, PCB’s Chief Operating Officer, had said that neither of the participating teams insisted for a security inspection before the tournament. Associate members Hong Kong and United Arab Emirates will also play in the first Asia Cup since 2004 in Sri Lanka. The tournament’s itinerary was decided following a meeting of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) in Kuala Lumpur last month.

In spite of the current wave of violence in the country, PCB officials appeared confident that Asian teams will come to Pakistan for the regional spectacle and help it improve its image in the cricket world.

But sources said that the PCB officials were left unpleasantly surprised after hearing security concerns raised by Sri Lankan cricket officials.The sources said that there is a possibility that the Sri Lankans might be planning to lobby to get the hosting rights of the Asia Cup if it’s shifted from Pakistan.

In the past, Sri Lankan cricket chief Arjuna Ranatunga had openly offered to host the Asia Cup in case Pakistan opted to back down as hosts because of security problems. His offer came in the wake former premier Benazir Bhutto’s assassination last December.

But PCB chairman Nasim Ashraf reacted sharply to the offer saying that there is no way Pakistan will surrender the hosting rights of the tournament. Since its launch in 1984 in Sharjah, the Asia Cup has only been held eight times mainly due to the strained relations between Pakistan and India.

But currently, Pakistani and Indian cricket boards enjoy friendly relations and PCB officials are hopeful that the BCCI will support them in their bid to hold the tournament in a befitting manner this summer.

Source:Cricket News