Pakistan Cricket Board chief Mohsin Naqvi met the country’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and later posted that a decision on the “ICC matter” will be taken by Friday or Monday (February 2)
The suspense surrounding the development is reaching a crescendo. Pakistan Cricket Board chief Mohsin Naqvi met the country’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and later posted that a decision on the “ICC matter” will be taken by Friday or Monday (February 2). Bangladesh has already been replaced by Scotland after the former’s refusal to play its matches in India. If Pakistan also withdraws, there will be a big gap for the ICC to fill.
In these circumstances, Uganda has offered its candidature if “a T20 World Cup seat opens.”
“Dear @ICC, If a T20 World Cup seat opens, Uganda is ready – packed and padded. Passports warm (not ice). No bakers leaving ovens or ships U-turning. Heat, noise, pressure? We’ll bring the bold kit,” Cricket Uganda posted on X.
Uganda’s hilarious post was in direct reference to what Iceland Cricket had posted a while back. They first offered to replace Pakistan and then “withdrew” as well. “It is with a heavy heart that we now announce our unavailability to replace Pakistan in the upcoming T20 World Cup,” they wrote, before adding: “Our loss is likely Uganda’s gain. We wish them well.”
Amid the “threat,” the Pakistan Cricket Board has already scheduled its T20 World Cup squad to depart for Colombo early on February 2, virtually ruling out any possibility of boycotting either the tournament or the marquee clash against India on February 15, sources close to the board told news agency PTI.
“The PCB has already made travel arrangements for the World Cup squad to leave early morning on February 2 for Colombo,” the source said.
The source added that the PCB had shown its full support to the Bangladesh Cricket Board over their “security concerns” about playing in India, and could not do anything further without damaging its own position within the ICC.
It is expected that the PCB will confirm its participation on Friday. There has been speculation in sections of the media that Pakistan could pull out of the tournament or refuse to play India. But an insider dismissed such reports as rumours.
