New Delhi, Feb 10 (IANS) Former India cricketer Madan Lal has criticised Pakistan’s handling of the India-Pakistan fixture controversy at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, stating that the country’s eventual decision to play the match was unavoidable due to financial and administrative pressures.
Reacting to Pakistan’s reversal after initially indicating it would not play the India match, Madan Lal said the decision was driven by the heavy losses Pakistan would have faced had it gone through with the boycott.
“Pakistan were bound to take a U-turn sooner or later. Because not playing would have caused Pakistan huge losses. On one hand, they would have had to pay fines, and then there was the question of whether the ICC would even allow them to play cricket or impose a ban for several years. Considering all these things, I think they made the right decision by agreeing to play the match against India,” Madan Lal told IANS.
Pakistan has maintained that it reconsidered its stance after persuasion from other cricket boards, including Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. However, Madan Lal rejected that narrative, asserting that such a major decision should have been taken independently.
“Now they are saying that Bangladesh or Sri Lanka persuaded them, that Bangladesh pursued them, or Sri Lanka told them to do so. That is wrong. You are capable of making your own decisions. Earlier, you made the wrong decision of not playing, and now you have reversed it—fine, that’s okay—but you can’t say you did it because of others.”
The former all-rounder further pointed out that the conditions surrounding the issue were linked to the ICC and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), and questioned Pakistan’s internal decision-making structure.
“The conditions they set were not accepted by the ICC; those depend on the BCCI, whether they play or not. I have said this before as well: there is no one in Pakistan who can make the right decision. Pakistan’s economy is already in very bad shape, and how will they run cricket if money doesn’t come in? Because not playing these matches causes them heavy losses. India is not affected by such losses, nor is the ICC. Pakistan, however, is definitely affected.”
Madan Lal also expressed confusion over Bangladesh’s alleged role in persuading Pakistan, especially amid uncertainty surrounding Bangladesh’s own international commitments.
“We don’t know what kind of arrangement the ICC has with Bangladesh or what has happened with Sri Lanka, or whether we are even touring Bangladesh or not. Bangladesh itself is not playing, so how did they go and convince Pakistan to play? This is beyond understanding. This is not a good way to conduct diplomacy.”
Pakistan have since confirmed they will play India as scheduled, bringing an end to days of uncertainty over one of the most anticipated fixtures of the tournament.
–IANS
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