New Delhi, Feb 1 (PTI) The International Cricket Council is set to take a slew of punitive actions against Pakistan in the wake of their government’s decision to boycott the T20 World Cup match against India, including a possible ban from the upcoming edition of the marquee event.
The other sanctions could range from top member nations refusing to play bilateral series with them, hefty financial sanctions and also, ban on overseas players’ participation in the PSL.
The PCB, in solidarity with Bangladesh’s ouster from the T20 World Cup, has decided not to play their group league game against India in Colombo on February 15 despite having a binding contract with the ICC and the BCCI on playing matches on neutral soil.
“The PCB hasn’t yet officially informed ICC but since there has been an official announcement, the ICC is expected to take some stringent actions. The ICC board will be meeting tomorrow (Monday) virtually and decide whether Pakistan should be allowed to play in the tournament. In case they are allowed, there could be some strict punishment for PCB,” an ICC Board source told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
So what are the possible sanctions expected against the PCB? “Since they are in violation of a binding contract, the ICC’s member boards could refuse to travel to Pakistan for the bilateral series. In case they play the bilateral series, there is every chance that the results will not impact the ICC rankings across formats.
“There remains a chance of Pakistan not being awarded any WTC points,” the source added.
However, what might hit Pakistan the hardest is sanction on its revenue generator — the Pakistan Super League.
“Barring retired players or free agents, the current overseas internationals could be barred from participating in the PSL. Apart from that, the revenue loss incurred by ICC’s host broadcaster Jio-Star which could range into millions of dollars, will have to compensated by the PCB. It goes without saying that their annual revenue will also not be disbursed,” the source added.
In case the ICC bans Pakistan from the tournament, then Uganda will be the replacement team but that will only be decided after the board meeting.
Normally, the advertisement rates for an India-Pakistan T20 game commands premium rates of anything between Rs 25 lakh to Rs 40 lakh per 10 seconds and simply advertisement revenue loss could be of more than Rs 200 crore.
Salient Points Implications of Pakistan’s India match boycott: 1. Completely banned from the tournament.
2. ICC annual revenue pay-out withheld.
3. PCB asked to pay full compensation to Jio-Star for revenue loss.
4. Sanctions on bilateral series, impact on WTC points and ICC rankings.
5. Banning all overseas players (save free agents) from playing in the PSL. PTI KHS KHS DDV
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