NEW DELHI: In another development that adds to the uncertainty surrounding Pakistan's participation in the T20 World Cup, scheduled to begin on February 7 in India and Sri Lanka, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) abruptly cancelled the planned unveiling of the national team's World Cup kit, citing "unavoidable circumstances," NDTV reported.
The kit launch was originally scheduled to follow the toss of the second T20I against Australia, but plans were shelved at the last moment. Sources indicate that the postponement is tied to the absence of official clearance from Pakistan's Foreign Office, which is set to deliver a final verdict on the team's participation in the tournament on Monday.
However, the PCB has already scheduled the T20 World Cup squad to depart for Colombo early on February 2, after its chairman Mohsin Naqvi said - following a meeting with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif - that the final call on participation will be taken by Monday.
The PCB had earlier maintained that the government would take the final call on Pakistan's participation in the event in view of the evolving situation following Bangladesh's exit from the competition.
The source said that PCB had shown its full support to Bangladesh Cricket Board over their "security concerns" in playing in India and could not do anything further without damaging its own position within the ICC.
Bangladesh, who have been replaced by Scotland in the 20-team event, had sought shifting of its matches to Sri Lanka, citing security concerns in India but the ICC shot down the proposal, saying no such verifiable threat exists.
