LAHORE: Former International Cricket Council (ICC) president Ihsan Mani has called on incumbent Jay Shah to play a role in defusing tensions after Pakistan decided to boycott its match against arch-rivals India, scheduled to be held in Colombo on Feb 15.
Speaking to Dawn from London, Mani — who has also served as the head of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) — said that being the current ICC chief, Jay Shah should not only speak to Mohsin Naqvi to defuse tensions, but also save world cricket from potential financial losses.
“He should go to Pakistan to convince the government to end the boycott and also listen to their grievances,” he said.
Asked about media that the ICC had appointed Deputy Chairman Imran Khawaja to negotiate with the PCB, Mani said that Khawaja represented associate member Singapore, and was not the right man to deal with the matter. “It is better for the ICC chairman to deal with the government of Pakistan on his own.”
He was of the opinion that if the government of Pakistan had taken such a bold step, it must have some solid grounds, in case the matter is moved before the ICC’s Arbitration Committee in the future.
“There may be some weakness in Pakistan’s case, because the ICC shifted Pakistan’s matches from India to Sri Lanka (under the hybrid model), but a competent legal team can argue it effectively.”
It is possible, he opined, that India — holding much sway over the ICC — may get a decision in its favour from the arbitration committee, like what happened in 2018.
“If the ICC again fails to deliver justice to Pakistan, [and chooses to] please India, we have the right to take it to the World Court of Arbitration in Switzerland. There, Pakistan will have every chance to win the case because there are many incidents, which are enough to prove politics is involved in the ICC’s affairs,” Mani said.
When asked about the potential financial losses due if the India-Pakistan match doesn’t go ahead, Mani said that while the match yields massive revenues for the ICC, Pakistan only gets 5.75 per cent against India’s hefty share 38.5pc from the income of the game’s governing body.
“This is the time for Pakistan to fight for an end to politics in the ICC. [They] did not take any action against India when they [spoilt] the gentleman’s game by refusing to shake hands with the Pakistan team [at the Asia Cup]. The ICC did not take any action when the Indian team refused to accept the Asia Cup trophy from ACC Chairman Mohsin Naqvi, just because he is a Pakistani.”
“The boycott of India-Pakistan match may be a violation of members’ participating agreement (signed between PCB and the ICC), but the negative attitude of the BCCI is to blame, which forced Pakistan to take such a big decision,” he said.
