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Pakistan and India are now set to face each other at the T20 World Cup after talks with an International Cricket Council (ICC) delegation resolved concerns, according to official sources.
Sources said the decision followed a phone call in which Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake urged Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to reconsider Pakistan’s boycott of the India clash fixture.
Anura Kumara Dissanayake referred to longstanding cricketing ties between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, recalling mutual support shown by both nations during difficult periods within their shared cricketing history.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif welcomed the sentiments and allowed the Pakistan Cricket Board to proceed with the scheduled India match, according to reports following successful government-level consultations.
The fixture had been thrown into doubt after the Government of Pakistan instructed its team not to play India in Colombo, escalating uncertainty around the tournament’s most high-profile match.
Scheduled for February 15, the Group A encounter is considered the most commercially significant contest in cricket and carries major financial and competitive implications for the two traditional rivals involved in the tournament.
The marquee tournament has already faced disruption after Bangladesh declined to play matches in India over security concerns, prompting organisers to replace them with Scotland in the revised event schedule.
