Roger Binny, Rajeev Shukla cross Attari-Wagah border to visit Pakistan for Asia Cup 2023

The Asia Cup 2023 is being successfully hosted by Pakistan and Sri Lanka as the tournament has witnessed five matches so far. Notably, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) were at loggerheads to finalise the venue for the continental cup. After much deliberation, it was decided that the tournament will be jointly hosted by Pakistan and Sri Lanka as India refused to travel to Pakistan due to political tensions between the two nations.

However, in a major development, BCCI President Roger Binny and Vice President Rajiv Shukla have accepted PCB’s invitation to travel to Pakistan to watch Asia Cup 2023. The duo were spotted in Pakistan on Monday, September 04 and their images have gone viral all over social media.

Roger Binny and Rajeev Shukla have reached Pakistan for Asia Cup. pic.twitter.com/KS5wSUEntM

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) September 4, 2023

The BCCI President and Vice President reached Lahore via the Attari-Wagah international border in Amritsar and got a grand welcome from PCB Chairman Zaka Ashraf. The duo will be witnessing the Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka clash at the Gaddafi Stadium on Tuesday, September 05.

The PCB has also invited the esteemed guests and their spouses to an official dinner, which will be hosted by the board members at the Governor's House in Lahore on September 4th. Notably, it’s the first time since the 26/11 Mumbai Terror attacks in 2008, that a BCCI official has visited Pakistan.

Before crossing the border, Shukla said that the purpose of the visit is purely for cricket and nothing political.

"This two-day visit is purely from the point of view of cricket, nothing political, a dinner has been hosted and three teams will be there - Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh," Shukla was quoted as saying by English Jagran.

Further answering why India didn’t travel to Pakistan and any future possibility of any such tour, Shukla said that BCCI follows the advice of the government.

“We will go by the advice of the government, whatever the government decides we will do that,” he added.

India and Pakistan to clash again in Super 4 stage

Meanwhile, India are locking horns with Nepal in their second game at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Pallekele. After opting to bowl first, the Rohit Sharma-led side has been set a target of 231 to win and qualify for the Super 4 stage. If the Men in Blue manage to qualify, India and Pakistan will once again clash during the Super 4 stage after the group stage game between the two teams got washed out.