By Staff Reporter
LAHORE: Pakistan’s cricket team landed in Sri Lanka on Monday for the T20 World Cup as the International Cricket Council has called an emergency meeting over Islamabad’s order to boycott the match against rivals India.
The Pakistan Cricket Board said in a post on X that the 15-member squad, captained by Salman Ali Agha, had arrived in Colombo ahead of the tournament opener on Feb. 7. The lineup features Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Khawaja Mohammad Naeef, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan and Usman Tariq, the board said in a prior post announcing the group for the event.
The team plans to rest on Monday and Tuesday, then face Ireland in a warm-up game on Feb. 4, according to the PCB. The board released video showing the players in their new kit as they left a Lahore hotel by bus for the airport. India and Sri Lanka are co-hosting the World Cup, but Pakistan will contest all its fixtures in Sri Lanka, including knockout rounds if it advances, because of security and political concerns with travel to India.
Pakistan’s government on Sunday cleared the team to take part in the tournament but banned it from playing the Feb. 15 group match against India in Colombo. Sources said the boycott showed support for Bangladesh, which pulled out after disputes with India, and protested the ICC’s handling of the matter.
The ICC called a virtual board meeting on Monday after the government posted the decision on its X account. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi met before the announcement.
The ICC said in a statement that it was deeply concerned, adding that picking and choosing matches went against the core ideas of an international competition and hurt the event’s fairness. The council noted governments’ rights in such matters but called on the PCB to rethink the step, saying it damaged cricket and disappointed fans everywhere. The ICC said it had not yet received official word from the PCB. but added that the boycott did not serve cricket or fans around the world, including in Pakistan, and that refusing select games clashed with the basics of a global tournament.
Indian media reported that the ICC meeting would look at penalties such as large fines for the PCB, suspension from future ICC events, curbs on matches against other countries and caps on overseas players in the Pakistan Super League. The PCB might also have to pay broadcasters and sponsors for revenue lost from the skipped game.
The dispute follows PCB complaints about ICC actions, including swapping in Scotland after Bangladesh said it could not travel to India over safety fears. Naqvi, the PCB head, has charged the ICC with uneven treatment and bending to India’s board.
The boycott appears aimed at hitting the ICC’s finances, since Pakistan-India games bring in big money from viewers, advertisers and the council. The neighbours have not held a bilateral series in 14 years but often meet in ICC tournaments, where their clashes pack stadiums and boost TV ratings.Tensions between the countries have affected cricket in the past. At last year’s Asia Cup in the UAE, Indian players skipped handshakes with Pakistan in three matches, including the final, and India declined the trophy from Naqvi as Asian Cricket Council president.
Pakistan captain Agha, speaking after a 3-0 T20 sweep of Australia in Lahore on Sunday, said the team would follow orders on the India game. “It’s not our decision, we can’t do anything about it,” Agha said. “We will do whatever our government and the chairman say.”Pakistan starts against the Netherlands on Feb. 7, the first day of the World Cup.
The two countries have gone to war four times and skirmish often at their border, making their cricket encounters rare and charged with extra meaning. The PCB has not formally notified the ICC, sources said, leaving questions over the tournament.
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