The absence of Bangladesh from next month\u2019s T20 World Cup is a sad moment for the game and should serve as a call for stakeholders to work towards uniting the sport, not dividing it, the International Cricketers\u2019 Association said on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Bangladesh were replaced by Scotland in the 20-team showpiece on Saturday following their refusal to tour India over safety concerns in the wake of soured political relations between the Asian neighbours.<\/p>\n
The governing International Cricket Council (ICC) rejected Bangladesh\u2019s request to move their matches to tournament co-host Sri Lanka, saying it was not feasible to change the schedule so close to the February 7 start of the tournament.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe withdrawal of Bangladesh from the T20 World Cup, and resulting absence of a valued cricketing nation from cricket\u2019s pinnacle international T20 event, is a sad moment for our sport, the Bangladesh players and fans, and one that requires deep reflection,\u201d World Cricketers\u2019 Association (WCA) Chief Executive Tom Moffat said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cRather than allowing division or exclusion to take hold, we call on the games\u2019 leaders to work with all stakeholders, including governing bodies, leagues and players, to unite the sport, not divide it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The events underline the current tension in South Asian cricket.<\/p>\n
India\u2019s fraught relations with Pakistan prompted the ICC to broker an arrangement allowing them to play at a neutral venue when their neighbour hosts a global tournament.<\/p>\n
Following India\u2019s refusal to travel to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy in 2025, a \u201chybrid model\u201d was decided upon whereby India played all its matches in Dubai, chosen as a neutral venue.<\/p>\n
As per the compromise, Pakistan are set to play all their matches at the upcoming T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka, though the Pakistan Cricket Board chief Mohsin Naqvi said on Saturday their participation was still not confirmed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe prime minister is not in Pakistan right now. When he returns, I\u2019ll be able to give you our final decision,\u201d Naqvi, who is also the country\u2019s interior minister, told reporters.<\/p>\n
Moffat said the WCA had become increasingly concerned by agreements not being honoured in the sport and by a lack of meaningful consultation with players and their representatives.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt also highlights significant issues with the game\u2019s existing operating model at the global level,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese issues, if continued to be left unaddressed, will weaken trust, unity, and ultimately the health and future of the game we love.\u201d<\/p>\n
Former Pakistani captain and all-rounder Shahid Afridi said on the replacement of Bangladesh by Scotland that he was \u201cdeeply disappointed\u201d by ICC\u2019s \u201cinconsistency\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a former international cricketer who has played in Bangladesh and in ICC events, I\u2019m deeply disappointed by today\u2019s ICC\u2019s inconsistency. It accepted India\u2019s security concerns for not touring Pakistan in 2025, yet appears unwilling to apply the same understanding to Bangladesh.<\/p>\n
\u201cConsistency and fairness are the foundation of global cricket governance. Bangladesh\u2019s players and millions of its fans deserve respect \u2014 not mixed standards. The ICC should build bridges, not burn them,\u201d Afridi said in a post on social media platform X.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The absence of Bangladesh from next month\u2019s T20 World Cup is a sad moment for the game and should serve as a call for stakeholders to work towards uniting the sport, not dividing it, the International Cricketers\u2019 Association said on Sunday. Bangladesh were replaced by Scotland in the 20-team showpiece on Saturday following their refusal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15533,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15532","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15532","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15532"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15532\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15534,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15532\/revisions\/15534"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}