Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Zaka Ashraf is in India on an invitation from BCCI for dinner.
Ahmedabad: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Zaka Ashraf met the Pakistan players in Ahmedabad on Friday, ahead of the high-voltage India clash in the ongoing ODI World Cup 2023 at the Narendra Modi Stadium. Pakistan are facing India for the eighth time in the 50-over World Cup, having lost in all seven encounters. Although PCB is yet to share anything about the meeting, several images that went viral on social media showed Ashraf addressing the players, probably a pep talk before the big game. Pakistan are coming into this game on the back of two wins against the Netherlands and Sri Lanka.
Ashraf is in the country to attend a dinner hosted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). “BCCI will host a dinner in honour of Mr Zaka Ashraf, which will be attended by all BCCI officials and senior Government officials,” PCB had posted on social media platform X (formerly Twitter).
Ashraf motivated the players in a meeting which was also attended by the support staff, including coach Grant Bradburn, PCB’s director of cricket Mickey Arthur and captain Babar Azam among others. The dinner will also be attended by BCCI secretary Jay Shah and other top officials of the board.
Earlier, Ashraf had labelled India as a ‘Dusman Mulk’ while addressing the media before the World Cup started. The statement by PCB chief created massive public anger on social media. Before that, PCB had invited BCCI for a dinner in Lahore during the Asia Cup 2023.
Pakistan are touring India for the first time since 2016. Both India and Pakistan are unbeaten so far in the early stages of the tournament. While Pakistan beat Netherlands by 81 runs and Sri Lanka by six wickets, India recorded convincing six and eight wickets win over Australia and Afghanistan in their first two matches.