ICC right to pull up Pakistan for boycotting India-Pak fixture: Rajeev Shukla

BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla on Monday said the the International Cricket Council (ICC) was right in warning Pakistan of severe repercussions for its selective pullout from the high-profile T20 World Cup contest against India in Colombo on February 15.

Pakistan’s decision, conveyed through an official government statement, is being seen as a political protest linked to Bangladesh’s removal from the tournament after the world body declined its request to shift matches from India to Sri Lanka on security grounds. The ICC has already warned Pakistan Cricket Board the a boycott of the marquee fixture could lead to punitive sanctions and said that the decision is not in the interest of the the game in general.

“The ICC has issued a big statement on this subject. It has highlighted element of sportsmanship. We completely agree with the ICC. BCCI will not make any comment until we speak to the ICC,” Shukla told reporters here.

The raging controversy was sparked by Bangladesh pacer’s Mustafizur Rahman’s ouster from the IPL on instructions of the BCCI for unspecified reasons. Bangladesh refused to travel to India after that citing security concerns. Congress Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor said the game can’t be held to ransom like the way it is being at the moment.

“It is pretty disgraceful that sport has been politicised in this way on both sides, frankly. I don’t think that Mustafizur (Bangladeshi cricketer Mustafizur Rahman) should have been denied his contract to play in Kolkata. It was most unfortunate intrusion of politics,” Tharoor told reporters. “I think the Bangladeshi reaction was an overreaction but it is also a reflection of the same and Pakistan is trying to show its solidarity with Bangladesh. This whole thing is spiralling out of control.

“I honestly think this is now a wake up call for all concerned to contact each other on an emergency basis, the ICC could be the platform for it — just say, let’s call off this nonsense...You can’t go on like this forever,” he said. The India-Pakistan clash is the most anticipated fixture of any ICC event, drawing peak global viewership, sponsorship interest and broadcast revenues. The host broadcaster could incur advertisement revenue losses which could be anything in the range of Rs 200 crore to Rs 250 crore for a marquee game whose 10 second commercial slot can cost up to Rs 40 lakh.

While a walkover would hand full points to India, the ICC retains the authority to impose financial penalties on the PCB. To get a walkover, the opposition team needs to be present on the ground for the coin toss. The Indian team will therefore travel to Sri Lanka and Suryakumar Yadav will be walking out for the toss. Once Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha doesn’t appear, the match referee will award a walkover and two points to India.