India-Pak tie: Is there ray of hope for PCB U-turn after meeting with ICC?

A week after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced that its team would not be playing India in the marquee T20 World Cup game on 15 February, there is a possibility that the match may happen after all.

Speculation is mounting as the PCB meets a two-member International Cricket Council (ICC) delegation this evening in Lahore at the time of writing this — along with Aminul Islam, president of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) — in an unprecedented show of ‘solidarity’ in front of cricket's world governing body.

The invitation to the BCB president underlines strong political overtones. Ever since Bangladesh was shown the door by ICC ahead of the World T20, Pakistan was vocal that the Tigers had been a victim of the ICC's ‘double standards’. After the Pakistan government had announced its decision on a selective boycott of the India game on 1 February, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif clarified that the stance was "in support" of Bangladesh, while team captain Salman Ali Agha referred to them as "brothers".

Meanwhile, the ICC had been maintaining a discreet silence about any possible punitive measures against the PCB and assigned Usman Khawaja, the long-serving ICC vice-chairman (who represents Singapore) on the board), for back channel communications. Khawaja, along with Pankaj Khimji of Oman, is believed to have been a key negotiator in trying to bring all parties to the discussion table by working the phone.

Mubashir Usmani, the UAE representative on the ICC board, is also with Khawaja in Lahore for the meeting, whose outcome is being awaited with baited breath by cricketing world.

There is no gainsaying that the PCB is using the meeting for a round of posturing where it will set preconditions before the ICC against imposing any financial sanctions on the BCB. It may be recalled that the ICC sent two emissaries to Dhaka in January to persuade the team to travel to India to play, with an assurance of security after the Mustafizur Rehman row — but the hardline Bangladesh government refused to change its stance.

When the ICC put Bangladesh's plea of relocating its matches to Sri Lanka to the vote, the motion was outvoted 14-2, with Pakistan the only other full-member nation voting in favour. Should Pakistan boycott the India match, they will have to forfeit points, and the absence of the fixture could have significant financial consequences. Both Pakistan and Bangladesh are in line for ICC sanctions if the 15 February tie is called off, and it is believed to be a major bargaining chip in the meeting.

This could be a well-planned move ahead of Bangladesh's general elections on 12 February, with Pakistan playing big brother in light of the changing nature of regional geopolitics. The next 48 hours or so hence look crucial for the fate of the big game in exactly a week’s time next Sunday.