The Pakistani government has cleared its national team to compete in the T20 World Cup, but stopped them from playing arch-rivals India.
The Pakistan team will fly to Colombo on Monday afternoon after a week of uncertainty in the wake of Bangladesh’s expulsion from the tournament.
The decision was announced after Pakistan’s cricket chief Mohsin Naqvi met Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, for a second time in a week, in Lahore on Sunday.
Naqvi had not previously said whether the national team would refuse to play in the Sri Lankan capital against India on 15 February – the highest revenue-generating game – but the Shahbaz Sharif-led coalition government confirmed its decision on Sunday.
The World Cup runs from 7 February to 8 March, co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka and featuring 20 teams.
Naqvi hinted last week at an outright boycott of the event in protest at the ICC’s decision to reject Bangladesh’s demands to relocate their matches from India to Sri Lanka over security fears.
Bangladesh’s demands were voted down by ICC board members after a weeks-long standoff, with Pakistan the only country siding with them.
The ICC replaced Bangladesh with Scotland last Saturday, drawing a fierce reaction from Naqvi, who criticised the governing body for double standards.
Pakistan’s refusal to play against India – who they have already played at neutral venues in Sri Lanka – will have severe financial implications.
Pakistan and India have not played in any bilateral cricket since 2012 and only face each other in multi-nation events.
Under a deal signed last year, India and Pakistan agreed not to travel to each other’s countries in cases where either hosts an ICC event, instead playing at neutral venues.
Pakistan open their campaign against the Netherlands in Colombo on 7 February in Group A, which also includes India, the United States and Namibia.
Former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal backed the decision.
“Enough is enough, we had to take this decision,” Akmal told AFP. “India has been frequently mixing politics with sports and damaging the spirit of the game, so our government has taken a strong decision which should be backed.’
– AFP
Photo: @TheRealPCB/X
