As things stand, Pakistan are yet to be confirmed as Asia Cup hosts, with the Asian Cricket Council unable to reach a decision in Bahrain earlier this month. ACC president Jay Shah, who is also the BCCI secretary, has maintained since October that India won’t be travelling to Pakistan and that the tournament will have to be held at a neutral venue.

When asked on his thoughts about the tussle over the Asia Cup venue between India and Pakistan, and the standoff in Bahrain, Miandad said: “We have always backed Pakistan. You know I never let India go when it comes to any stuff. But we [Pakistan] should look at our part. From our side, whatever we think is right, we should go ahead with it and fight for it.”

Reports have also claimed that PCB chairman Najam Sethi has conveyed to Shah that if the Asia Cup is moved out of Pakistan, Pakistan will not send its team to the 50-over World Cup, set to be held in India later this year.

“I’ve said this before…if they [India] don’t come, bhaad mein jayein [go to hell]. It doesn’t matter to us,” Miandad said. “We are getting our cricket. This is the ICC’s job: if they can’t control this, then there’s no point in having a governing body. ICC should have the same rule for everyone. If these teams don’t come – however strong they may be – they should be debarred. We shouldn’t be caring about them.

“Come, play. Why don’t you play? Always running away. They get into trouble [at home] if they lose.”

Miandad claimed that even during his playing days, “bad losers” India would avoid travelling to Pakistan because they would have to face backlash at home. Further, he took potshots at the ICC for not controlling the situation, and demanded that teams who don’t follow certain rules should be debarred from playing.

“It’s always been the case: whenever they lose, they have to face problems, that’s why they don’t play here,” Miandad said. “Even during our time, that was the reason. They ran away from Sharjah as well. Back home, their people get into riots and fights, their crowd is very nasty. Whoever India loses to, the people set houses on fire. I remember when we used to play, so many of them [Indian players] faced problems – Gavaskar etc. They are just bad losers.”

“I ask the ICC to look into it when someone does it. What is the ICC for? They should take strict action and debar. It’s India, so what? There should be rules and regulations. If a country behaves like this, an action needs to be taken. Debar them, and they’ll fall into line.”