Pakistan players may boycott 2016 World T20, says ICC President Zaheer Abbas

Abbas fears security concerns might force the Pakistani cricketers to refuse to travel to India for the 2016 World T20

Zaheer Abbas, president of the International Cricket Council (ICC) said that he has fears that Pakistani cricketers might boycott the 2016 World T20 to be held in India, IBNLive reports. The comments come in the wake of protests by the Shiv Sena earlier in the day that forced the scheduled meeting between the officials of the BCCI and PCB to be called off.

The two cricket boards were set to discuss the future of the India-Pakistan bilateral series, originally scheduled to be held in the UAE this December, but which has since run into rough ground following political tensions between the two nations. The protests today were condemned by both the PCB and BCCI, but the damage seems to have been done as the talks have now been cancelled.

Workers of the Shiv Sena had barged into the BCCI office on Monday holding anti-Pakistan placards and shouted slogans against PCB chief Shahryar Khan, making clear their intentions of not allowing any cricket ties with Pakistan. According to Zaheer, the scenes were pretty unnerving and he fears the Pakistan cricket team might take an extreme step should there be serious concerns about their security.

"Pakistan and India cricket authorities must work it out, otherwise I fear the Pakistan players could also refuse to tour India for the upcoming World T20 Cup, citing security concerns," former Test captain Abbas told a news channel. "I don't know what the environment will be when the World T20 is held in India but if this situation persists, obviously there will be extra pressure on our players."

The former Pakistan cricketer is, however, still hopeful that India would head to the UAE to play Pakistan as he feels playing on a neutral venue is the best way to ensure the resumption of cricket ties between the two nations.

“Nothing better than India and Pakistan playing each other. The whole world and the people of both India and Pakistan are waiting for the series. The world is hoping that India will give a good news to the cricketing world,” Abbas said, as reported by The Indian Express. “Politics and cricket are two different things. Pakistan is not asking India to play in Pakistan. Pakistan is asking for a bilateral series to be played at a neutral venue.”