The International Cricket Council (ICC) is currently locked in deliberations with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to salvage the high-profile and lucrative India-Pakistan T20 World Cup clash slated to be held
on February 15 in Colombo. Pakistan recently announced it won’t take the field for their Group A fixture against India after Bangladesh were ejected from the tournament.
As per The Telegraph Online, the PCB has reportedly set conditions before the ICC during the ongoing backchannel discussions to ensure the India vs. Pakistan contest goes ahead as planned. While the deadlock remains, the publication reports hope of a positive outcome has improved in the past 48 hours.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif recently confirmed that the decision has been taken to show solidarity with Bangladesh. After refusing to travel to India for the World Cup, citing security concerns despite ICC giving assurances, Bangladesh were replaced by Scotland.
PCB had publicly supported Bangladesh over the latter’s stance.
“We have taken a very clear stand on the T20 World Cup that we won’t play the match against India because there should be no politics on the sports field,” Sharif told members of his cabinet recently. “We have taken a very considered stance, and we should completely stand by Bangladesh, and I think this is a very appropriate decision.”
Why BCB Demanded Relocation?
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) wanted ICC to relocate their World Cup matches from India to Sri Lanka. BCB claimed that they were worried about the security of their players in the country. The development followed IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders releasing their Bangladeshi fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman from the squad ahead of the upcoming season on BCCI’s instruction.
BCB shot a letter to ICC to relocate their Group C matches. However, the request was turned down after a board meeting overwhelmingly voted (14-2) in favour of keeping the matches in India. BCB stuck to their stance before ICC invited Scotland.
