A gathering between the Worldwide Cricket Council (ICC) and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) officers was held at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium on Sunday to debate Pakistan’s determination to boycott the T20 World Cup match with India on February 15.
Sources, nevertheless, say that the 2 sides will most definitely announce the result of the assembly after receiving an endorsement from the Authorities of Pakistan.
ICC Deputy Chair Imran Khawaja landed in Lahore through the day to satisfy PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi, whereas Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) President Aminul Islam additionally arrived individually in Lahore to take part in some conferences.
Confirming Khawaja’s arrival in a publish on X, the PCB stated the ICC official was greeted by Amir Mir, an adviser to the PCB chief, on the Lahore airport.
Individually, Naqvi welcomed Islam at Gaddafi Stadium, the place the 2 held a gathering to debate the “ongoing disaster”, the PCB stated.
The BCB president thanked Pakistan for its “assist” within the T20 World Cup matter.
Mir and Pakistan Tremendous League (PSL) CEO Salman Naseer — additionally an adviser to the PCB chairman — had been additionally current through the assembly.
Islam was welcomed earlier on the Lahore airport by Naseer and different officers.
The high-level visits come a day after the ICC Males’s T20 World Cup started.
The 20-team event has been overshadowed by an acrimonious political build-up after Bangladesh, who refused to play in India citing safety issues, had been changed by Scotland.
Bangladesh remained agency on not participating within the occasion after the Worldwide Cricket Council (ICC) rejected their request to maneuver their matches to Sri Lanka.
After mulling its stance over the arising scenario, Pakistan gave his cricket group the nod to take part within the World Cup, however stated the Inexperienced Shirts wouldn’t play their match with arch-rivals India, scheduled to be held in Colombo.
In response to the event even earlier than the official communication from the PCB, the ICC in a press release stated the place of “selective participation is tough to reconcile with the basic premise of a worldwide sporting occasion the place all certified groups are anticipated to compete on equal phrases per the occasion schedule”.
It expressed the hope that the PCB will take into account the numerous and long-term implications for cricket in its personal nation as that is more likely to impression the worldwide cricket ecosystem, of which it’s itself a member and beneficiary.
“The ICC’s precedence stays the profitable supply of the ICC Males’s T20 World Cup which also needs to be the accountability of all its members together with the PCB. It expects the PCB to discover a mutually acceptable decision, which protects the pursuits of all stakeholders,” the ICC acknowledged.
A authorities supply informed Daybreak On the time that Pakistan had refused to play towards India to specific solidarity with Bangladesh, who had been dropped from the event after refusing to play in India, which is among the co-hosts of the ICC T20 World Cup.
In line with the federal government supply, the first motive for boycotting the match with India was the ICC’s “biased determination” in direction of Bangladesh.
“The federal government of Pakistan wished to indicate solidarity with Bangladesh. Due to this fact, as a protest, the nationwide group was restricted from enjoying its match with India scheduled for February 15,” the supply added.
Any conflict between arch-rivals India and Pakistan is among the most profitable in cricket, value thousands and thousands of {dollars} in broadcast, sponsorship and promoting income.
It was reported earlier this week that ICC had initiated back-channel efforts to resolve the problem and keep away from important monetary losses.
Sri Lanka’s cricket board requested Pakistan to rethink the choice to boycott the match with India.
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) informed the PCB {that a} boycott would end in a monetary hit and in addition damage the island’s tourism trade, which remains to be recovering from the 2022 financial meltdown.
Pakistan, who edged out the Netherlands within the event opener on Saturday, will lose two factors in the event that they forfeit the match and in addition undergo a big blow to their internet run price.
Skipper Salman Agha has acknowledged that if Pakistan had been to face India in a semi-final or last, they might once more seek the advice of the federal government.
