Pakistan government announced its decision on Friday to not field the nation’s cricket team during the league stag match against India on 15 February. Soon afterwards, former Pakistan head coach and captain Mohammad Yousaf came out in support of the decision and even went on to call out ‘selective’ influence in world cricket.
Yousaf said that it was a ‘tough but necessary’ step by the Pakistani government while taking a quiet dig at the Indian influence inside the ICC. In a post on
Notably, the former Pakistan great seemed to be taking a dig at the statement by the ICC where the global cricketing body had stated that the ‘this position of selective participation is difficult to reconcile with the fundamental premise of a global sporting event where all qualified teams are expected to compete on equal terms per the event schedule.’
ICC also said that the decision of Pakistan government to not play the match against India was not in the interests of the global game or the welfare of the fans worldwide.
The global cricketing body also said that it hoped for the PCB would ‘consider the significant and long-term implications for cricket in its own country as this is likely to impact the global cricket ecosystem, of which it is itself a member and beneficiary of.’
What did Pakistan government say? How did Pakistan captain respond?
Pakistan government announced on Sunday that it was allowing the national cricket team to participate in the T20 World Cup. However, the team was not allowed to participate in the match against India on 15 February.
The Shehbaz Sharif led government did not clarify if Pakistan would also walk out of the match if the two teams faced each other in the finals.
Since the announcement, there are predictions of massive loss for the broadcasters if the match against India does not take place.
Some cricketing pundits have even suggested that the loss could be recovered from the PCB’s annual revenue share received from the ICC.
Meanwhile, Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha when asked about his government’s decision said, “We are going to the World Cup. Humara decision nahi hai, hum kuch nahi kar sakte. (The decision not to play against India isn’t ours, so we cannot do anything about it.) Whatever our government, the PCB chief tells us to do, we will do that only,”
