DHARAMSALA, India (Diya TV) — Former International Cricket Council chief Ehsan Mani has advised the Pakistani Cricket Board to skip their World Twenty20 match against India in Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh on March 19. Mani’s advice was provided in response to what he believes are recent threats from state authorities.
“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,” Mani said.
Shashank Manohar, president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, reached out to Mani with assurances that only top-notch security would be provided for Pakistan’s players during the tournament. Not convinced, Mani further opined that had any other country been involved in the same situation, he’s sure they would have pulled their appearance from the tournament by now.
“If this match had involved the Australian team I am sure by now they would have pulled out of the match,” he said, adding, “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.”
Manohar and the BCCI have already called into consideration the absence of security provided in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh for the World T20 tie. Citing a January attack on an Indian military base, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said on Sunday that the venue of the match should be moved out of respect for the “martyrs” killed in the assault by militants on the base. Sources speaking on the terms of anonymity have confirmed conversations took place regarding the match possibly being relocated to Mohali and Kolkata, but no final decisions have been made.
Mani said Pakistan has worked vigorously to preserve its cricketing relationship with India, but that hostile environment for his players and their guests in the rival country remains fairly obvious.
“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,” he said.
