Published: Feb 26, 2019, 04:30 PM (IST)
Edited: Feb 26, 2019, 04:30 PM (IST)
New Delhi: The debate over whether India should play Pakistan in their ICC World Cup 2019 group-stage encounter in Manchester on June 16 has kicked off again following the Indian Air Force action against terror targets in Balakot, Pakistan.
Officials of the BCCI are yet to meet the government over the issue and take a call on the matter but one of them said after the Balakot operation that if the government wanted the Indian team to stop playing Pakistan in multi-nation events, the board would follow the directive. (ALSO READ: Indian players wear black armbands to mourn martyrs in Pulwama attack)
There are suggestions that foreign players would be asked to choose between the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the Pakistan Super League (PSL) now.
A BCCI official confirmed that a member of the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) did, in fact, propose this during a meeting last week but it was not backed by others who felt that foreign players should not get involved in India-Pakistan hostility. (ALSO READ: Make it a cricket apartheid for Pakistan: Vinod Rai)
“The BCCI had resolved at the Special General Meeting that the members participation agreement shall not be executed without the authorisation of the general body of the BCCI and the BCCI reserves all its rights regarding the MPA (members participation agreement) and regarding its participation in any other multi-nation tournament or games not covered by the MPA. That answers your question,” BCCI treasurer Anirudh Chaudhry had said.
