There has been a call to boycott the June 16 World Cup face-off against Pakistan at the Old Trafford in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack, which killed more than 40 CRPF personnel.
In a meeting to address the spiralling speculation around the match, the CoA deliberated on the matter but did not take any position for now and will not mention the tie in the planned e-mail to the world body.
“The 16th of June is very far away. We will take a call on that much later and in consultation with the government,” CoA chief Vinod Rai said after the meeting.
Asked if players have been consulted on the issue, Rai replied in the negative.
“In an e-mail to the ICC, we have expressed our concerns about the terrorist attack that has taken place. We are telling them that security of players and match officials should be appropriately taken care of,” Rai said.
“And number two, we must sever ties with nations from which such terrorism emanates. We will express our concern on an appropriate forum,” Rai said indicating that the matter will be raised at the ICC quarterly Board meeting in Dubai.
The ICC meeting is scheduled to be held from February 26 to March 2.
Asked about reports of a draft e-mail being prepared to urge ICC to bar Pakistan from the World Cup, Rai said, “I don’t want to comment on what appeared on X, Y or Z.”
Rai also refused comment on Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s reported statement that India should boycott the game against Pakistan.
“Please understand we still have three months time. We will abide by what government says. We can’t comment on hypothetical situations as we haven’t arrived at a decision,” the former CAG added.
It was a foregone conclusion that CoA would not take any decision on the matter as the ICC can’t ban Pakistan as per rules.
The call to boycott the World Cup match came from some prominent names in Indian cricket such as senior off-spinner Harbhajan Singh and former captains Mohammed Azharuddin and Sourav Ganguly.
However, offering a different view, batting great Sunil Gavaskar has stated that India should not hand over points to Pakistan by boycotting the game. He advocated continued shunning of bilateral cricket ties.
