Pakistan says no to Dharamsala, picks Kolkata or Mohali for Indo-Pak T20

Debarshee Mitra

ByDebarshee Mitra,SportsCafe Editor

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The Pakistan Cricket Board has told the ICC that their much-awaited group game against India at Dharamsala, scheduled for March 19 can not go ahead. The PCB would rather prefer Kolkata or Mohali to host the game with security measures at Dharamsala insufficient for the game to go ahead.

Earlier in the day, the PCB had also penned down its concerns, sending a letter to the ICC asking it to reconsider the venue for the group match, scheduled for later this month. This comes after the Pakistan board had given the team permission but the cricket board's delegation led by FIA director Usman Anwar found the security arrangements very loose-ended, reported ESPNCrincinfo. 

With the Pakistan team supposed to leave for the tournament on Wednesday, the security concerns raised means their departure is put on hold. The women's team are being held back too. Apart from the players and coaching staff, the PCB feels the Pakistani media and fans who will travel to India would feel the burn as no security plan has been laid down by the state or central government of India.

The security concerns came under the spotlight after the Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh had refused to provide security to the Pakistan team saying that he would provide it if only the numerous martyrs' families in the region did not object to the Pakistan team playing at the venue. Virbhadra Singh's comments received backlash from the BCCI and former Pakistan captain Imran Khan. The World-Cup winning captain had termed the comments made by the chief minister as “full of hate” and urged the Pakistan team to not play in Dharamsala.

"I have sent an email to the ICC that if Dharamshala has a problem hosting Pakistan-India World T20 game, the match should be played either in Mohali or Kolkata. The Pakistan board is also open to the idea of playing it else where as long as the safety and security of the Pakistani cricketers is taken care of." Shahryar Khan, the PCB chief said.

While the Pakistan teams (men and women) wait for a go-ahead from the government and PCB to leave for the tournament, the match is expected to go ahead on the scheduled date of March 19.

(Also read: How Rohit Sharma was dismissive of the hype around Amir)

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