NEW DELHI: The ICC has assured the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) of certain concessions in return for dropping its boycott of the India match, but any such measures will be revealed only after the T20 World Cup concludes, a source said on Tuesday.
"Whatever concessions the PCB has got from the ICC on ending their boycott will only be made public after the end of T20 World Cup," a PCB source told PTI on Tuesday.
The ICC has already confirmed that the Bangladesh Cricket Board will not face any sanctions and will be awarded the hosting rights for an ICC event in the 2028–2031 cycle, with the Under-19 Men's World Cup being the preferred option.
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Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had earlier announced that the national team would boycott its T20 World Cup group-stage match against India in Colombo on February 15, citing solidarity with the Bangladesh Cricket Board, which had been replaced after declining to play its matches in India over security concerns.
However, following intense discussions and back-channel negotiations - including intervention from Sri Lanka President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and appeals from the Bangladesh Cricket Board to reconsider the decision in the larger interest of the game - the boycott was withdrawn on Monday night.
"The call from Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissinayake played a big part in ending the boycott as did a briefing from some top people in the government/establishment who have been closely following the developments," another source informed.
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The PCB has now also been given clearance to play India if both countries have to face off again in the latter stages of the World Cup.
Another source said that the Prime Minister who is also patron in chief of the PCB was in fact briefed on what Pakistan could achieve if the government issued a notification for not playing against India.
"The ICC now has a clear understanding with Naqvi that no further details of the discussions that took place with PCB, Bangladesh Cricket Board and some other boards would be made public," the source said.
While ICC in its statement on Monday confirmed that Bangladesh would not be sanctioned for their stance, it had no mention of what would PCB stand to gain from ending the impasse.
There have been speculations about Naqvi pushing for an increase in the share of revenues the PCB gets from the ICC but another insider confirmed this would only be after approval from the ICC board for the next financial cycle.
He said during discussions Naqvi had made the point that there was no reason for Pakistan and India not to play home and away matches in the ICC World Test Championship at neutral venues as they were already playing in other ICC white ball events.
However there remains a catch. Only the WTC final is a direct ICC event and all other series are bilaterals for which points are awarded.
(With PTI Inputs)
