Pakistan may cancel the boycott of the match against India in the T20 World Cup. Bangladesh Cricket Board itself has made this request to Pakistan, in support of which PCB had announced boycott.
Lahore: There are reports that Pakistan may back out of its decision to boycott the match against India in the T20 World Cup. According to news agency PTI, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has directly asked Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to change its stand. PCB had announced to withdraw from the match with India to support Bangladesh. The interesting thing is that the same person for whom Pakistan announced boycott is now asking Pakistan to play against India.
In a meeting held between Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Mohsin Naqvi and ICC Vice President Imran Khawaja in Lahore yesterday, Bangladesh Cricket Board Chairman Aminul Islam requested the Pakistan Cricket Board to withdraw its decision to boycott the match against India. Aminul Islam was also involved in this meeting of Mohsin Naqvi and Imran Khwaja. Bangladesh’s new stance is that they are thankful for the unity, but the India-Pakistan match on February 15 must happen. This whole matter started when BCCI directed Kolkata Knight Riders to remove Bangladeshi player Mustafizur Rahman from IPL. Later, Bangladesh refused to come to India for the World Cup citing security reasons. After this, ICC included Scotland in the World Cup in place of Bangladesh.
The Pakistan government had announced to boycott only the match against India alleging that injustice had been done to Bangladesh. ICC had warned that if the India-Pakistan match, the highest grossing in the world of cricket, is cancelled, there will be a loss of crores of rupees. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Cricket Board and Emirates Cricket Board have also asked Pakistan to withdraw its decision.
Now that the Bangladesh Cricket Board itself has made this request, there is every possibility that Pakistan will change its stand. However, the PTI report states that Mohsin Naqvi will take the final decision only after discussing with Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.