ICC deputy chair arrives in Lahore for talks with PCB over India match boycott

Karachi (PTI): Imran Khwaja, deputy chair of the International Cricket Council, arrived in Lahore on Sunday evening for crucial talks with PCB officials as efforts to resolve the standoff over Pakistan's proposed boycott of the high stakes T20 World Cup match against India gather pace.

Khwaja, who represents Singapore in the ICC, is an influential figure in the world governing body and has voting rights on the board as an associate member director.

A source close to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) confirmed Khwaja has been nominated by the ICC board as a mediator on the controversial subject.

"He has been in talks with Mohsin Naqvi for a while now and he is reaching Lahore today to first talk to the PCB chief and also the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) President, Aminul Islam before the virtual meeting this evening," the source said.

Aminul is already in Lahore and has met Naqvi on Sunday. Aminul is expected to be part of the discussions aimed at persuading Pakistan to reconsider its decision not to play India in Colombo on February 15.

The two officials -- Khwaja and Aminul -- were greeted at the airport by senior PCB officials and then driven to the Gaddafi Stadium where they are scheduled to meet with the board's chief Mohsin Naqvi.

A PCB source said that Khwaja and Aminul, after their discussion with Naqvi, will have a meeting with some ICC governing board members virtually later Sunday.

The source said the ICC was doing its best to convince PCB to get permission from its government for the February 15 match.

Aminul reached Lahore ahead of Khwaja and his arrival is significant because the dispute between the PCB and ICC began because of the apex body's decision to replace Bangladesh with Scotland after the former refused to play their World Cup matches in India citing security reasons.

Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif recently said that Pakistan's decision to not play against India was taken to show solidarity with Bangladesh, whose request to move their matches from India to Sri Lanka was rejected by the ICC.

Naqvi has not commented much on the instructions from the government to boycott the India match but a reliable source said the situation has changed after the Sri Lankan cricket board sent an email to the PCB, urging them to end the boycott.

ICC CEO, Sanjog Gupta has also been to Colombo to meet with the President of the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), Shammi Silva who sent the email to Naqvi to play the India match in the World Cup.

The ICC has already sought an explanation from Pakistan on how the 'Force Majeure' clause can be invoked to justify the team's refusal to play the T20 World Cup match against India after the PCB tried to wriggle out of the situation by putting the onus on its government.

But there is a glimmer of hope now as PCB has approached the ICC for deliberations, as per an ICC Director, who feels that the marquee clash will eventually take place.

The ICC is currently engaging with the board in a structured manner to explore possible resolutions, with a view that the interest of the game must supersede unilateral action.

Sri Lanka Cricket has warned PCB to reconsider its decision citing huge financial losses for all stakeholders.

The trigger for Bangladesh's withdrawal was the release of their pacer Mustafziur Rahman from the KKR squad on BCCI's instructions.