LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Management Committee Chairman Najam Sethi said on Friday that it was up to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who is patron of the PCB, and former president Asif Ali Zardari, to select either him or Zaka Ashraf as the next PCB chairman.

Talking to media, here today, Najam shared details about the upcoming Asia Cup. He said, "Due to the logistical problems, it is not possible to hold more than four matches of the Asia Cup in Pakistan. This is very important that finally a multilateral tournament is going to happen in the country." He added that rest of the matches of Asia Cup had been shifted to Sri Lanka, not the United Arab Emirates (UAE), due to very warm weather in the Middle East.

Najam Sethi said, “Engaging and convincing the stakeholders of the significance of the hybrid model was challenging. I held several meetings in Dubai - some of them were secret and others a matter of public knowledge. We also held multiple calls on Zoom to convince others to accept the hybrid model.” He said: "The hybrid model is a solution to a decade-long issue between India and Pakistan. You will realize later how the hybrid model could work as a negotiating tool between India and Pakistan," he added.

Sethi asserted “Now we come to the conclusion that after 15 long years, a multilateral tournament is going to take place in Pakistan. The journey to bring back the multilateral tournament to the country was started by holding the final of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) in Lahore in 2017”.

He added that acceptance of the hybrid model means the event will take place as originally planned, the ACC will stay together and united, and the great game of cricket will continue to thrive and move forward in what will be interesting and exciting times for the subcontinent cricket fans in the coming 20 months.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023