Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Monday said that he briefed Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on the “International Cricket Council (ICC) matter”, saying that a “final decision will be taken either on Friday or next Monday”.
According to a handout by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Naqvi had called on the premier in Islamabad earlier today.
“During the meeting, he briefed the prime minister on the recent situation regarding ICC T20 World Cup and the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB),” the handout said.
Subsequently, Naqvi, who is also the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), stated that he had a “productive” meeting with PM Shehbaz.
“[I] briefed him on the ICC matter, and he directed that we resolve it while keeping all options on the table. It was agreed that the final decision will be taken either on Friday or next Monday,” the post read.
The development comes as questions have been raised about Pakistan’s participation in the tournament following the ICC’s decision to replace Bangladesh with Scotland.
Bangladesh were replaced by Scotland on Saturday, which is scheduled to begin next month, following their refusal to tour India over safety concerns in the wake of soured political relations between the Asian neighbours.
The governing ICC rejected Bangladesh’s request to move their matches to tournament co-host Sri Lanka, saying it was not feasible to change the schedule so close to the February 7 start of the tournament.
Hours before the ICC had announced its decision, Naqvi had said that Bangladesh was being treated unfairly and should be allowed to participate in the tournament.
At the time, he had said that Pakistan’s participation was still not confirmed. “The prime minister is not in Pakistan right now. When he returns, I’ll be able to give you our final decision,” Naqvi had said.
Meanwhile, the International Cricketers’ Association said on Sunday that the absence of Bangladesh from the T20 World Cup was a sad moment for the game and should serve as a call for stakeholders to work towards uniting the sport, not dividing it.
“The withdrawal of Bangladesh from the T20 World Cup, and resulting absence of a valued cricketing nation from cricket’s pinnacle international T20 event, is a sad moment for our sport, the Bangladesh players and fans, and one that requires deep reflection,” World Cricketers’ Association (WCA) Chief Executive Tom Moffat had said in a statement.