Report: Pakistan Considering Bangladesh as Venue for 2023 ODI World Cup Matches

According to a report by ESPN Cricinfo, it is speculated that Pakistan may play their ODI World Cup matches in Bangladesh. The idea was proposed during the sidelines of the ICC meetings in Dubai. However, Bangladesh has stated that nothing is concrete at the moment and the development is still at the speculation stage. India is hosting the ODI World Cup later this year in October-November, and earlier this month, it was reported that India may play their Asia Cup 2023 matches outside Pakistan with Oman, UAE, Sri Lanka, and England as potential venues. Pakistan is hosting the Asia Cup 2023 in September, but India has denied traveling to their neighboring country citing security concerns. Earlier, Pakistan had threatened to boycott the ODI World Cup in India if India did not come to Pakistan to play in the Asia Cup 2023. Bangladesh’s name was proposed as a venue to host the Pakistan matches because of its proximity to India and easy logistical matters. It is worth noting that India’s meeting with Pakistan in cricket has only come in ICC tournaments in the last decade, and the last time India played a bilateral series with Pakistan was in 2012 when they hosted their arch-rivals in a white-ball series. Meanwhile, Pakistan has never beaten India in ODI World Cup matches. In T20Is, Pakistan’s only win against India came in the 2021 World Cup in UAE when Virat Kohli’s men were defeated by 10 wickets.