Pakistan to play T20 WC?

Lahore: The Pakistan Cricket Board has already scheduled its T20 World Cup squad to depart for Colombo early on February 2, virtually ruling out any possibility of boycotting either the tournament or the marquee clash against India on February 15, sources close to the board said on Thursday.

“The PCB has already made travel arrangements for the World Cup squad to leave early morning on February 2 for Colombo,” he said.

The source added that PCB had shown its full support to Bangladesh Cricket Board over their “security concerns” in playing in India and could not do anything further without damaging its own position within the ICC.

The BCCI, PCB and ICC had also entered into a tripartite agreement under which all India-Pakistan matches in ICC events until 2027 will be played at neutral venues.

“Keep in mind Pakistan’s entire World Cup schedule is in Sri Lanka, including the final if they qualify. So on what grounds can they boycott the tournament or the match against India?” he asked.

It is expected that the PCB would confirm their participation on Friday. There has been speculation in sections of the media that Pakistan could pull out of the tournament or refuse to play India. agencies