The International Cricket Council (ICC) has delivered a stern message to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in the wake of its chief, Mohsin Naqvi's comments about Pakistan potentially bowing out of the upcoming T20 World Cup. Naqvi had hinted that Pakistan may decide to withdraw from the tournament following the ICC's decision to eliminate Bangladesh, calling the move unfair.
In response, ICC has warned PCB that it will announce a series of sanctions on Pakistan should it decide to withdraw from the tournament. The sanctions could range from arranging no bilateral series with any international team, not giving any No-Objection-Certificate (NOC) for overseas players participating in PSL and no Asia Cup participation, according to the Indian Express.
“If Pakistan also decides not to play the T20 World Cup, the ICC will impose a series of sanctions, including no bilateral series with any international team, no NOC for foreign players in PSL, and no Asia Cup participation,” said the ICC, as quoted by the Indian Express.
This comes on the back of ICC's decision to remove Bangladesh from the upcoming T-20 World Cup and replace them with Scotland after its cricket board refused to play in India, in the wake of renewed tension that originated from Kolkata Knight Riders' decision to remove Mustafizur Rahman from the team, under a Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) directive.
BCCI had issued the directive to KKR following the recent attacks on minorities in Bangladesh, especially the Hindu population. After Mustafizur was shelved by KKR, the Bangladesh Cricket Board announced they would not be playing any matches in India. They also banned the telecast of IPL in the country.
ICC, meanwhile, deemed BCB's move as unreasonable, and Bangladesh was duly removed from the tournament, paving the way for Scotland to return to the fold.
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