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  • 8 months ago
On this Special Report, sports editor Vikrant Gupta analyses the International Cricket Council's (ICC) stern ultimatum to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) following threats to pull out of the upcoming T20 World Cup. The tension escalated after the ICC replaced Bangladesh with Scotland, following Bangladesh's refusal to play in India. Vikrant Gupta notes, 'The moment they do that, their cricket is finished,' highlighting that Pakistan lacks a valid alibi for a boycott. The transcript details potential 'never-before sanctions' including the denial of NOCs for foreign players in the PSL, loss of ICC revenue, and total cricketing isolation. Gupta describes Pakistan's stance as 'geopolitical posturing' to align with Bangladesh, predicting that despite the current drama involving PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi and Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Pakistan will ultimately participate in the tournament to avoid financial and institutional destruction.

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00:00Some breaking news, this is regarding the upcoming T20 World Cup.
00:03Now, the ICC has replaced Bangladesh with Scotland and Pakistan now sees red.
00:09And meanwhile, the ICC has also warned the Pakistan Cricket Board over T20 pullout threat.
00:15As per sources, ICC has given an ultimatum to Pakistan over the threats.
00:20And ICC may impose sanctions on Pakistan Cricket Board,
00:24given the threats that they have been receiving from Pakistan after the removal of Bangladesh from the T20 World Cup.
00:32ICC has told Pakistan that they need to stop threatening the ICC or they must face sanctions.
00:39So, no NOCs, no series for Pakistan.
00:42This is the ultimatum from the ICC for the Pakistan Cricket Board.
00:46Remember, Bangladesh was removed from the T20 World Cup after they requested that there should be a neutral venue
00:53and that they won't be playing in India, after which ICC removed Bangladesh from the T20 World Cup.
01:00And it was replaced by Scotland, after which Pakistan came out in support of Bangladesh
01:04and also said that they will also think about playing in the T20 World Cup,
01:10after which now ICC has given an ultimatum to Pakistan Cricket Board.
01:15And as per sources, we're learning that Pakistan Cricket will be on the verge of extinction
01:21if it chose to pull out of the T20 World Cup.
01:24As per sources, ICC will be imposing never-before sanctions that will have a long-lasting, destructive impact
01:32on the Pakistan Cricket Board, which includes no permissions to foreign players to play in BSL,
01:37which is Pakistan's domestic cricket league, and revenue loss of unimaginable proportion for Pakistan,
01:46no recognition to PSL, no Asia Cup, and no bilateral series with any country for Pakistan.
01:53So, these are the sanctions that can be expected if Pakistan decides to pull out of the T20 World Cup.
02:00So, ICC has given an ultimatum to Pakistan that there will be strict sanctions
02:10if it decides to pull out of the T20 World Cup.
02:15And my colleague Vikrant Gupta is now joining us with more details on the story.
02:19Vikrant, can the Pakistan Cricket Board really afford to pull out of the T20 World Cup,
02:26given the kind of sanctions that could be imposed, which could be destructive for the Pakistani cricket?
02:34Anjali, they can't. Honestly, they can't.
02:37Even if the ICC had not leaked the information that was sent out to the Pakistan Cricket Board,
02:45even then, Pakistan has no right, no alibi to boycott the world.
02:50So, the moment they do that, the cricket is finished.
02:53See, Bangladesh and Pakistan are two different things.
02:56Bangladesh still had a reason.
03:00Their logic was they didn't want to come to India because of security,
03:03and then they stuck to that stand, and then they were thrown out of the World Cup.
03:08Pakistan doesn't have any alibi.
03:10They can't just say, oh, my friend's not been invited to the ICC World Cup, I will also not come.
03:16So, I don't know what sanctions are we talking about.
03:19But I don't think bilateral cricket with Pakistan will be affected for the country.
03:25But definitely, the member boards will reject NOCs for the BSL, the Pakistan Super League.
03:32So, their players will be left without any league.
03:35They will not get their revenue from the ICC, and other than that, there could be isolation in terms of cricket for Pakistan in times to come.
03:45So, I don't think Pakistan is going to do that.
03:47It's just that this is posturing.
03:49It's a strategic move.
03:51They are showing Bangladesh that they are the new ally in geopolitics.
03:56Bangladesh was always an ally of India in cricket, in politics, and they were not very close to the Pakistanis.
04:04So, what is happening is Pakistan sees that as a vacuum in terms of cricket, in terms of geopolitics,
04:11and they're just showing the Bangladeshis that they're standing with them.
04:14So, by the time there are new elections and the new government in Bangladesh, they will gravitate towards Pakistan.
04:20I think that's what Pakistan is trying to do.
04:23Mohsin Nakwe, if you remember, in the Asia Cup, where he was also the chairman of the Asian Cricket Council,
04:29said that his team was going to boycott a match and a tournament.
04:34But subsequently, he had to reach on his threat.
04:39So, the Pakistanis played that tournament.
04:40It's not so easy to pull off an ICC tournament.
04:44So, this drama will continue for the next few days.
04:46Shahbaz Sharif, once he's back in Pakistan, he will meet Mohsin Nakwe.
04:52Mohsin Nakwe will come out, and he will say that the Prime Minister has authorized him to pull out of the ICC World Cup.
04:58This will go on for the next two, three days.
05:00But ultimately, come the 2nd or the 3rd of February, Pakistan will be in Sri Lanka for the World Cup.
05:06All right, Vikran, thank you so much for all those details and for that context.
05:09So, it's not easy to pull out of an ICC event.
05:12And with this ultimatum from the ICC, what we are learning, as per sources, it becomes even more difficult.
05:18And Pakistan cricket board can definitely not afford this total isolation.
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