ICC backed off, not Pak, ex-PCB chief claims on U-turn over India match
India Today
Former Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Najam Sethi has made a strong claim over the recent U-turn in the T20 World Cup standoff, asserting that it was the International Cricket Council that stepped back, not Pakistan.
Former Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Najam Sethi has made a startling claim about the Pakistan government's recent U-turn in the T20 World Cup standoff, insisting that it was the International Cricket Council that stepped back, not Pakistan.
The India-Pakistan group match in the 2026 T20 World Cup will now go ahead as scheduled on February 15 in Colombo after Pakistan's government withdrew its boycott call. The decision followed days of negotiations involving the ICC and the Bangladesh Cricket Board, bringing an end to a tense impasse that had cast a shadow over the tournament.
Sethi, however, offered a sharply different interpretation of how events unfolded. "In fact, it's the ICC that has taken a step back. I think the ICC has decided to back off a little bit, give Bangladesh some space. It was a very considered decision from Pakistan. They looked at all the angles. They knew that there could be no sanctions (for boycotting India match). They consulted the top lawyers at home and abroad," Sethi said in an exclusive interview with India Today's consulting editor, Rajdeep Sardesai.
"And there are precedents that made it clear to them that they were on a very strong wicket. And at best, they would lose a point, no more than that. And I think the ICC also realised that, which is why then the ICC got into motion and made overtures. That's how Imran Khawaja, the deputy chief, got into action. That's how the Bangladeshis got into action. That's how they came to Pakistan to negotiate so that Pakistan could play this match," Sethi added.
Meanwhile, Mohsin Naqvi, the current chief of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), claimed that the Pakistan government agreed to play the upcoming T20 World Cup match against India only after they managed to secure "respect" for Bangladesh.
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