The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will write a letter to the International Cricket Council (ICC) asking them to ban Pakistan from the upcoming cricket World Cup in England, Sports Tak reports.
According to the report, the government has asked the BCCI to write to the ICC saying if Pakistan is not banned from participating in the 2019 edition of the World Cup, India will pull out of the quadrennial event. Following this, the BCCI senior officials are conducting a meeting among themselves and will subsequently be writing to the ICC. They will ask the international Board to debar Pakistan from the World Cup.
It must be noted that Pakistan is a Test playing nation and a full member of the ICC which qualifies them as a rightful participant in the World Cup. If this letter is indeed filed by the BCCI, it will put the international body in extreme pressure ahead of their meeting on February 27 in Dubai. The potential situation is unprecedented as the collapse of diplomatic and political ties between two nations has never affected the cricket World Cup to this extent wherein a nation is mulling a pull out if another nation is not banned.
India is a major played in world cricket and is the cash cow for the ICC. A World Cup without India could potentially be a huge financial failure that the ICC would not want to risk. It was reported all matches featuring India were sold out or nearing a full house. This coupled with the massive television and digital following that the Indian team generates -- considering the massive domestic population and foreign following -- is bound to make the upcoming meeting in Dubai the most important in the game's history.
This move from India is a reaction to the dastardly terror attack in the Pulwama district of Kashmir which killed at least 40 CRPF jawans. Pakistan terror group Jaish-e-Muhammad took responsibility for the suicide bombing incident which occured around 3:15 PM on February 14 when an explosive-laden SUV rammed into a bus carrying CRPF personnel.
For the moment, India is scheduled to play against Pakistan in Old Trafford, Manchester on June 16.
More to follow...
