As pictures of the jerseys for India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh went viral, fans expressed their disappointment at the host country’s absence from the jerseys. The Asia Cup 2023 landed in a controversy after host Pakistan’s name was missing from the participating team’s jerseys. On August 30, Pakistan and Nepal squared off in Multan to start the competition. Even though Pakistan defeated the underdogs easily, previous cricket spectators and players were quick to notice the Asia Cup badge on the right side of the uniforms. Without the name of the host nation, it only showed the Asia Cup logo. The identical observation was made during Bangladesh and Sri Lanka’s Group B encounter. The name of the host country was also missing from their jerseys.
Asia Cup Big Controversy Fans Expressed Anger:
Fans expressed the anger after seeing images of the jerseys of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh went viral. Some people have even brought up the fact that Sri Lanka’s name appeared below the Asia Cup symbol in the most recent edition even though the competition was held in UAE because the former were the original hosts. Despite the event being played in a hybrid format this year, Pakistan is the official host, Sri Lanka is the other host, due to India’s objections about visiting Pakistan.
Rashid Latif, Mohsin Khan, and other former Pakistani cricket players criticised PCB and Asia Cricket Council (ACC) for failing to demand that the team uniforms be changed. The scenario was viewed as unacceptable by Latif. This is unacceptable, and since the Asia Cup is their property, the Asian Cricket Council must explain this oversight, he said.
PCB Issues Clarification After Being Slammed By Ex-Pakistan Cricketers:
For its part, PCB has attempted to downplay the controversy by claiming that the ACC determined after the 2017 Asia Cup that the host nation’s name will not be used with the Asia Cup symbol in future editions. However, former Pakistani players and supporters were not having any of it. Some have even questioned why, even if the ACC had made such a decision, the PCB had agreed to it given that Pakistan was hosting an international tournament for the first time in 15 years. Makes no sense at all. Therefore, Mohsin Khan, a former Test cricketer, questioned why the ACC had placed the name of the host nation on the logos for their Asian Emerging Nations Cup or their Asian under-16 competition hosted in Malaysia in July. Mohsin Khan said the ACC should clear the confusion.
Another former player who wished to remain unnamed thinks that the absence of Pakistan from the official emblem is due to Jay Shah, the President of the ACC and secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The BCCI source was quoted by news agency PTI as stating, Given the current scenario between the two countries, perhaps the BCCI official felt it would be embarrassing for the Indian team players to wear kits with the name of Pakistan on the official Asia Cup logo. Rashid Latif said that what had happened was embarrassing and needed to be clarified, but he did not completely discount this idea.
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