In addition to attending Sunday’s India- Pakistan T20 World Cup match, PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi is anticipated to meet with ICC representatives during his visit. This is in response to a brief boycott incident that endangered the highly anticipated match.
According to a source, Naqvi will go to Sri Lanka with top PCB executives, including Chief Operating Officer Sumair Ahmed and Pakistan Super League CEO Salman Naseer, for the Group A match, which is scheduled to begin late evening at the R Premadasa Stadium.
“The Sri Lankan board has invited officials from other boards as well but the reason for Naqvi going is to have discussions with ICC Chairman, Jay Shah and other officials on the sidelines to break the ice after the boycott fiasco,” PTI quoted the source as saying.
Aminul Islam Bulbul, the head of the Bangladesh Cricket Board, has stated that he would be in Colombo to attend the India-Pakistan game, where he is anticipated to mend fences with the BCCI following harsh interactions over the last few weeks.
It is anticipated that BCCI president Mithun Manhas, BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla and BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia will attend from India.
Earlier this month, tensions between the ICC and Pakistan arose when the Pakistani government ordered its cricket team to boycott the India match in Colombo. This decision was made in support of Bangladesh who refused to send their team to India for its World Cup matches on security grounds.
Scotland then replaced Bangladesh’s position in the 20-team field.
Pakistan changed its mind and announced that it would play India after days of intense diplomatic and cricket board involvement with the PCB, the Bangladesh Cricket Board, and the ICC.
According to the source, the PCB president met with Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif once again on Friday before departing for Colombo. The two of them talked about the current state of cricket as well as Pakistan’s ICC policy and its relationships with other boards.
“Naqvi will be in a position to have productive talks in Colombo having gotten clearance from the Premier,” PTI quoted the source as saying.
Following Naqvi’s meeting in Lahore last Sunday with ICC deputy chair Imran Khwaja and Bangladeshi counterpart Aminul Islam, Pakistan had reversed their boycott decision.
