Pakistan’s World Cup participation in India all but certain

A high-powered committee formed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to decide whether Pakistan should participate in the upcoming cricket World Cup in India has linked the country’s participation with the International Cricket Council (ICC) giving “guarantees” of foolproof security for the Pakistani players.

The decision was taken during the meeting of the committee headed by Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and attended by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Zaka Ashraf as well as senior security officials and others.

Sources privy to the matter revealed that the committee will recommend to the premier that the PCB should write a letter to the ICC, seeking firm assurances for the cricket team’s security in view of the rising incidents of violence and Islamophobia in the neighbouring country.

The meeting particularly discussed the ongoing violence in Manipur and incidents of violence against Muslims in India in other states.

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One source told The Express Tribune that the committee decided if the ICC gives guarantee of security to the Pakistani team then the government would consider sending the team to India.

The Cricket World Cup is scheduled to be played in India in October and November. The high-voltage cricket match between Pakistan and India will be played on October 14 at the world’s biggest cricket stadium in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

Gujarat is the home state of current Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Since the match is scheduled in Ahmedabad, the committee expressed concerns over the security of the Pakistani cricket team.

A few members of the committee suggested that Pakistan, in view of the current state of the relationship between the two countries and other incidents of violence in India, may propose a hybrid model for the World Cup. The proposal envisages that Pakistan plays its matches outside India.

However, the proposal did not get much traction as most members agreed that this would be an exercise in futility. The ICC would reject the proposal and it would be embarrassing for Pakistan. Therefore, most committee members were of the view that Pakistan only attaches reasonable conditions.

One participant, giving sense of the meeting, said that there was a feeling in the room that Pakistan would go to India. Another participant gave a more candid view: “Let’s accept the fact that it won’t make any major difference to India if we stay away from the World Cup. We need to take a more pragmatic view,” he added.

He said that it was evident that the government would eventually decide in favour of sending the cricket team to India.