Muhammad Naeem Khan Niazi
LAHORE, Feb 07 (APP): The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has rejected the unfounded news items by a section of Indian media on approaching the International Cricket Council (ICC) regarding the upcoming Pakistan-India fixture on February 15 at R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo.
In a statement by PCB spokesperson Amir Mir issued on the social media platfrom X on Saturday night, the PCB maintained that it had not approached the ICC regarding the fixture against the arch-rivals India and any claims by Indian media was far-fetched from reality.
The rumours are rife among the cricketing circles after Pakistan decided to boycott ICC T20 World Cup game against India scheduled on February 15 at RPS, Colombo in protest of the ICC playing second fiddle to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the dragging of politics into cricket by the ICC chair Jay Shah.
PCB decision was governed by the directions from the Pakistan government which barred the Pakistan team from playing against Indian team at the T20 World Cup. The decision may be motivated by different events in the recent past. Recently, the Indian team refused to shake hands with the Pakistan team out of political reasons during a gentleman’s game during the Asia Cup 2025 and, latter, the Indian team declined to receive the winner’s trophy from ACC President Mohsin Naqvi – who is also Chairman PCB.
Pakistan also rejected ICC decision to oust Bangladesh from playing the T20 World Cup after the BCB refused to travel to India to participate in the World Cup due to security reasons and asked the ICC to move its matches from India to Sri Lanka. The BCB were declined the favor while the same was granted to India by the ICC in 2025 when the BCCI refused to travel to Pakistan on security reasons to play Champions Trophy 2025. All Indian matches were moved to UAE to oblige India.
In the X post PCB spokesperson Amir Mir wrote, “I categorically reject the claim by Indian sports journalist Vikrant Gupta that PCB approached the ICC. As usual, sections of Indian media are busy circulating fiction. A little patience and time will clearly show who actually went knocking and who didn’t.”