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karachi8 February. Following instructions from the International Cricket Council (ICC), the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has taken a U-turn on its decision to boycott its much-awaited ICC T20 World Cup group league match against India. Under the new developments, Pakistan is fully expected to play in the proposed match against India in Colombo on 15th February.

Actually, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) President Aminul Islam Bulbul reached Pakistan for the meeting of ICC, PCB and BCB. The ICC had warned that if the PCB did not agree to the decision of the Pakistani government and take the field in Colombo on February 15, then sanctions would be imposed on it. The ICC and PCB had held talks before getting the green signal for the India vs Pakistan match.

ICC, Meeting between PCB and BCB in Lahore

With an aim to defuse the dispute, a delegation led by ICC vice-chairman Imran Khawaja reached Lahore for face-to-face talks with the PCB. CEO Sanjog Gupta also held talks with the PCB in Colombo on Saturday. BCB chief Aminul Islam was also present in this meeting.

According to a report in the English newspaper Times of India, the India vs Pakistan match is likely to get the green signal after preliminary discussions. The ICC has already sought an explanation from Pakistan on how it could justify its refusal to play a T20 World Cup match against India citing ‘force majeure’ clause, while the PCB had tried to blame its government for shrugging off the issue.

But now there is a ray of hope as the PCB has approached the ICC for discussions. An ICC director believes that this much-awaited match will finally happen. It was believed to be a political protest over Bangladesh’s exclusion from the tournament. The world body had rejected Bangladesh’s request to shift the match from India to Sri Lanka due to security reasons.

Well, with the new developments the ongoing speculations regarding Pakistan’s participation in the tournament have come to an end. This decision has come in the environment of increased political tension in the region with this tournament being jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka. The India-Pakistan match is considered to be the most anticipated match of any ICC tournament, garnering the highest viewership, sponsor interest and broadcast revenue globally.

The boycott of this match is expected to pose logistical and regulatory challenges to the ICC as a large part of the tournament’s programme, marketing and business strategy is built around this match.

In the event of a walkover, India will get full points, but the ICC will also retain the right to impose financial penalties on the PCB. Pakistan started its campaign against Netherlands on Saturday. Now he will meet America on 10th February and Namibia on 18th February. All the matches of Pakistan are to be played at SSC ground in Colombo.

The matches between Pakistan and India in Asia Cup or ICC tournaments are considered to be the main source of revenue for the broadcasters and ICC. Last year, in the Asia Cup held in UAE, the teams of India and Pakistan played three matches against each other.

PCB had rejected reports of contact with ICC during the day.

Earlier in the day, the PCB had rejected media reports that the PCB had resumed talks with the ICC over its boycott stance. PCB spokesperson Aamir Mir said in an The response from a PCB spokesperson came after the journalist claimed that the PCB had initiated talks with the ICC following warnings about possible legal consequences of skipping the match.