Pakistan officials meet ICC over India boycott

Officials from the International Cricket Council and the Pakistan Cricket Board will meet in Lahore on Sunday for talks over Pakistan’s planned boycott of their T20 World Cup match against India next week.

The ICC’s deputy chair Imran Khawaja and Mubashar Usmani, a member of the executive committee, will meet with PCB chair Mohsin Naqvi.

The president of the Bangladesh Cricket Board, Ameenul Islam, will also be present.

Bangladesh pulled out of the T20 World Cup, which started on Saturday, after the ICC rejected their request to move their matches from India amid rising political tensions.

Pakistan’s government then said its team would be boycott the match against India on 15 February – with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif saying the decision was made to «support» Bangladesh.

Should Pakistan boycott the match, they would forfeit the points available and the absence of the fixture could have significant consequences for the game, given it is the most lucrative in the sport.

It could lead to disputes over the ICC’s current rights deals and continued uncertainty could impact future agreements, with the current TV deals set to run out after the 2027 World Cup.