Sri Lanka urges Pakistan to reconsider boycott of India clash at T20 World Cup

Sri Lanka Cricket has urged Pakistan to reconsider its decision to boycott the Twenty20 World Cup match against India scheduled to be held in Colombo next week, warning that a forfeited game could negatively impact Sri Lanka’s tourism-dependent economy.

Sri Lanka Cricket Chief Executive Officer Ashley de Silva said on Friday that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has been formally asked to review its stance, citing the broader consequences of the boycott.

“We have asked them to reconsider the decision based on the reports we have got,” de Silva said.

He noted that Sri Lanka Cricket has already completed all preparations for the February 15 match, including security arrangements, hotel bookings and ticket sales. A last-minute cancellation, he warned, could result in losses from multiple fronts.

De Silva said Sri Lanka Cricket reached out to the PCB in the spirit of the strong cricketing relationship between the two countries, though he declined to disclose further details of the communication.

Sri Lanka and Pakistan share a long cricketing history, with Sri Lanka being the first national team to tour Pakistan after international cricket there came to a halt following the 2009 terror attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore.

The boycott controversy has hovered over the tournament,  co-hosted by Sri Lanka and India, since Pakistan’s government announced earlier this week that its team would not take the field against India. The Pakistani government later clarified that the decision was taken in solidarity with Bangladesh.

Bangladesh was excluded from the T20 World Cup and replaced by Scotland after the Bangladeshi team demanded that its matches be shifted from India to Sri Lanka, citing security concerns. However, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said independent assessments found no security threats in India and added that it was too late to relocate matches.

Pakistan has accused the ICC of inconsistency, arguing that India and Pakistan have been allowed to play at neutral venues in recent tournaments.

Cricketing ties between India and Pakistan have long been affected by decades of political and military tensions between the two neighbors, despite the sport’s massive popularity in both countries.

Sri Lanka, meanwhile, is still recovering from a severe economic collapse in 2022 and is currently under an International Monetary Fund-backed recovery program. Tourism remains one of the country’s key economic lifelines, and Sri Lanka Cricket fears that a high-profile match boycott could undermine efforts to revive the sector.

Source: Khabarhub
--Agencies