Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Saturday said that Bangladesh, which has refused to play the T20 World Cup scheduled in India, was being treated unfairly and should be allowed to participate in the tournament.
Naqvi, who is also the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, made the remarks while speaking to media in Lahore.
Bangladesh had announced on Jan 4 that it would not play its T20 World Cup matches in India after its player Mustafizur Rahman was released by his Indian Premier League (IPL) team amid growing tensions between the two countries. Subsequently, Bangladesh had “formally requested” the ICC to shift their games to Sri Lanka.
Subsequently, the ICC rejected the country’s request to shift its games. However, Bangladesh has insisted it will not travel to India for the tournament, effectively ruling the country out of the tournament.
It is also worth mentioning that reports have emerged regarding Scotland replacing Bangladesh in the tournament.
In his media talk, Naqvi said that the PCB’s stance on the situation would be according to the government of Pakistan’s instructions.
“Bangladesh has been treated unfairly. I said the same in the board meeting of the International Cricket Council (ICC). You cannot have double standards, where one country can make whatever decision whenever and do the total opposite for another country.
“That is why we have taken the stand that Bangladesh is being treated unfairly and should be allowed to play the World Cup in any case. They are a major stakeholder and this injustice should not be done.”
Asked about a potential boycott of the World Cup, he said the government of Pakistan would make the decision. “We are waiting for the prime minister to return,” he said, adding that a final decision would be taken then.
He was also asked whether he would suggest to the ICC a hybrid model for Bangladesh, similar to the one between Pakistan and India.
“The thing is that Bangladesh is the same member as Pakistan. And our stance is that if you have done this favour with Pakistan and India, then you should do the same with Bangladesh,” he said.
“The main reason for this is that one country cannot dictate another. And if this dictation is attempted, then Pakistan definitely has its own stance,” he said.
Asked whether there was a “Plan B” for a scenario in which Pakistan would also not play the T20 World Cup, he quipped, “Let the decision come first; we have Plan A, B, C, D.”
