The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has conveyed its discontent regarding Jay Shah, the BCCI secretary and president of the Asian Cricket Council, for prematurely disclosing the schedule of the upcoming Asia Cup 2023. This announcement occurred just before the PCB's official ceremony in Lahore earlier this week. The PCB had diligently organized an event in Lahore on Wednesday, July 19 evening to unveil the Asia Cup schedule and trophy. The event was graced by the presence of several former Pakistan cricketers and the PCB's Cricket Management Committee (CMC), which is led by Zaka Ashraf.
PCB Expresses Dissatisfaction to ACC
Unfortunately, to the surprise of the PCB and attendees, Jay Shah took to social media and revealed the schedule merely half-an-hour before the scheduled commencement of the ceremony. This action has left the PCB displeased with the lack of respect for the sanctity of their planned announcement.
"The PCB had a clear understanding with the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) (that) it would release the schedule of the Asia Cup, five minutes after the ceremony started in Lahore. But unfortunately, half an hour before the ceremony started around 7.15 P.M, Jay Shah had announced it on social media," one reliable source in the board told PTI.
According to the source, Jay Shah's decision to announce the schedule ahead of the planned PCB ceremony had a negative impact on the event. The ceremony, which was held with the intention of unveiling the schedule and trophy, lost its significance since the schedule had already been made public.
Furthermore, the source stated that the PCB expressed its dissatisfaction to the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) regarding the incident. However, the ACC responded by attributing the situation to a mere misunderstanding.
"The ACC's explanation was about misunderstandings over the time difference and all that, but the thing is, India is half-an-hour ahead of Pakistan time, so Jay Shah's announcement was a shock,” the source said.
Speculations on Jay Shah's Motivation
According to another source within the board, it is speculated that Jay Shah's premature schedule announcement might have been driven by a desire to settle scores. This potential motivation could be attributed to the perceived unprofessional manner in which the PCB chairman, Ashraf, and the sports minister, Ahsan Mazari, handled a meeting between Shah and Ashraf in Durban during the ICC annual meeting.
The specific details of that meeting and the reasons behind the perceived unprofessionalism were not provided in the statement. However, the source suggests that the incident in Durban might have influenced Jay Shah's actions in announcing the Asia Cup schedule earlier than planned.
"It appears as if Jay Shah settled scores after the confusion and questions he had to face over, whether he had accepted an invitation from Zaka to visit Pakistan for the Asia Cup matches which was widely circulated by Mazari and the PCB in the media,” the source said.
