Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said on Monday that he had briefed Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on developments related to an ICC matter, adding that a final decision would be taken either on Friday or next Monday.
According to the Prime Minister’s Office, Naqvi met the premier in Islamabad and discussed recent developments between the ICC and the Bangladesh Cricket Board regarding the upcoming T20 World Cup. Naqvi, who is also PCB chairman, later described the meeting as productive and said the prime minister had directed that the issue be resolved with all options under consideration.
The matter has drawn attention after the ICC replaced Bangladesh with Scotland for the T20 World Cup, scheduled to begin next month. Bangladesh were excluded after refusing to tour India over security concerns amid strained bilateral relations. The ICC rejected Bangladesh’s request to move matches to Sri Lanka, citing scheduling constraints.
Earlier, Naqvi had criticised the decision as unfair and said Pakistan’s participation in the tournament was yet to be confirmed.
Meanwhile, the World Cricketers’ Association termed Bangladesh’s absence from the tournament a sad moment for the sport and urged stakeholders to work towards unity.
