Ehsan Mani, who was formerly the chief of the International Cricket Council, has directed the Pakistan Cricket Board to pull out of the World T20 encounter against India at Dharamsala.
Mani's advice has come in lieu of the threats from Himachal Pradesh state authorities that they would not allow Pakistan to play at the venue. "I would advise the PCB to take these threats seriously. Because it involves the security of our players, officials, people and media who will go to India for the event," said the erstwhile ICC chief, speaking to Pakistan's Dawn News channel.
The PCB had written to the BCCI, raising concerns about the dilemma which clouds over the match. In response, BCCI president Shashank Manohar contacted his PCB counterpart Shaharyar Khan to provide him assurance on the security arrangements that will be made for the Pakistani players.
Comparing the situation with Australia's boycott of the 2016 Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh, Mani quipped, "If this match had involved the Australian team I am sure by now they would have pulled out of the match. They made their position on security for their players clear when they pulled out of the ICC Youth World Cup in Bangladesh earlier this year."
Ehsan Mani is also of the opinion that the Pakistan Cricket Board need to make their stand on not playing in Dharamsala crystal clear. Talking about Pakistan's attempt to re-establish Indo-Pakistan cricket relations, Mani was quoted saying, "The Pakistan government has also shown it believes in having cricketing relations with India but I would think playing in Dharamsala in this environment would be risky for the Pakistan team."
Himachal Pradesh CM has requested for the World T20 encounter between the arch-rivals to another venue as a sign of respect for army personnel who lost their lives in the terrorist attack on an Indian Air Force base in Punjab earlier this year.
Talks about an alternate venue have started to do the rounds; however, no decision has been made on this yet.
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