BCB in tight spot, PCB faces financial loss as Asia Cup fate remains unclear

The future of the 2025 Asia Cup T20 tournament remains uncertain amid a power struggle within the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), with the July 24–25 AGM in Dhaka hanging in the balance due to rising geopolitical tensions and boardroom disagreements.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), which currently chairs the ACC through its chairman Mohsin Naqvi, is banking on revenue from the tournament -- estimated at 1.16 billion Pakistani rupees -- as part of its total projected earnings of 8.8 billion rupees for the fiscal year. 

A major portion of this comes from ICC distributions, but the Asia Cup remains a key component of their financial plan.

However, the planned meeting in Dhaka is under threat after India, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan expressed unwillingness to attend, raising serious concerns about quorum. At least three Test-playing nations and 10 full or associate members are required for the AGM to proceed legitimately.

PCB CEO Sumair Ahmed, who represented the board at the recent ICC Annual Conference in Singapore, reportedly met resistance from most major boards when trying to rally support for the Dhaka meeting. The BCCI is particularly opposed to the venue and has insisted on moving the meeting to a neutral location—backed by allies Sri Lanka and Afghanistan.

Caught in the middle is the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), which had agreed to host the meeting on short notice. While the BCB has officially maintained that the matter lies with the ACC, insiders admitted that agreeing to host may have been premature.

"It now seems the event has turned into a geopolitical matter," a BCB insider told Cricbuzz. "Aminul (Islam Bulbul, BCB president) could have handled the situation more carefully when approached by the PCB president to host the meeting. I think he could have taken more time because, in situations like this, taking time is part of the game. Probably due to inexperience, he agreed to host it without fully understanding the geopolitical implications."

Another official said: "Bulbul (Aminul Islam) was requested to cancel the meeting as some of the board directors were not ready to do anything that can hurt the BCCI, but the president insisted that he had given his word and so could not go back on it."

Meanwhile, Naqvi reportedly skipped the ICC conference in Singapore and instead travelled to Kabul to secure support from Afghanistan. However, as of Monday (July 21), the Afghanistan Cricket Board is believed to have aligned with India's position and is also unlikely to send representatives to Dhaka.

If the meeting fails to take place or is deemed invalid, it could jeopardize the Asia Cup, currently scheduled for September 10–28 in the UAE. 

As the designated host, the BCCI might still conduct the tournament with or without Pakistan, but the ongoing standoff could significantly disrupt commercial and logistical arrangements.

With just days left, the Dhaka meeting has become the epicenter of a larger struggle between cricket boards—and its outcome could shape the regional cricket calendar for the rest of the year.