Ashwin's Statement on the Weird Request of the PCB to Change Venues for the Matches in India
The schedule for the World Cup is yet to be announced, as the ICC is still waiting for confirmation from Pakistan over their participation in the tournament, which is going to be held in India later this year. In the middle of this, the PCB has put up a weird request to the ICC and BCCI for a change in the venue for two of their World Cup Venues. As the official statement is yet to be made on the Request of the PCB to change the venues, Indian bowler Ashwin gives his statement on this weird request of Pakistan.
As part of the schedule that has been made for the World Cup and was sent to all the countries that are participating in the tournament, Pakistan is set to play against Australia at Bengaluru's Chinnaswamy Stadium on October 20 and Afghanistan three days later at Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. However, PCB has requested to swap the venues for the two matches. But still, there has been no reason provided by the board; reports reveal that it is down to Pakistan wanting to go in as favourites in each of the games.
Reacting to the weird request, Ashwin, speaking on his YouTube channel, opined that the ICC is unlikely to pay heed to the request given the nature of the reason.
Ashwin said, "Pakistan, in their request letter itself, has mentioned that conditions will favour Afghanistan in Chennai. So, by changing venues, it plays into Pakistan's advantage. So, I highly doubt that the ICC will heed this request. Maybe if Pakistan had given some valid security reasons, then it might be shifted. Another important thing Pakistan’s interesting request to switch venues The fixtures now are Pakistan playing Australia in Bangalore and Afghanistan in Chennai. They want the venues interchanged.
He also added, "Only for security reasons, the ICC will consider these requests. In the 2016 T20 World Cup, India vs. Pakistan was slated to happen in Dharamsala, but for security reasons, it got shifted to Kolkata."