Pakistan’s decision to establish a high-level committee to determine whether their cricket team should travel to India for the ICC World Cup 2023 has sparked criticism from various sources. Former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Khalid Mahmood has stated that forming this committee makes no sense, particularly because there is no representation of the PCB in the committee.
“What’s interesting is that the main stakeholder, the Pakistan Cricket Board, has no representative in the committee,” said Khalid Mahmood in an interview.
Khalid Mahmood acknowledged that it would be unjust for Team India not to come to Pakistan for the Asia Cup 2023. However, he believes that forming a high-level committee to make a decision is not the appropriate approach. “While I agree that there is no justification for India not touring Pakistan now, this is not how things are done at the international level,” he stated.
“If you argue that we are assessing the security situation before deciding to send a team to India, that would make sense. But to openly declare that if India doesn’t visit Pakistan, we will also not send a team to India for the World Cup, is combining two different things, which we have never done before,” added Khalid Mahmood.
Despite threats from India
Khalid Mahmood shared his experiences from his time as chairman of the PCB, recalling how they used to assess the security situation in India and advise the Pakistani government accordingly. “When I was chairman in 1999, despite threats from India, we assessed the security situation for our team ourselves by sending a delegation to India and advised the government that we were willing to go to India,” he explained.
“I expect Zaka Ashraf to face an uncomfortable situation when he attends the ICC meetings later this week due to the formation of this committee and the statement made by Minister Ahsan Mazari,” Khalid Mahmood concluded.
(With PTI inputs)