Former Pakistan opener Salman Butt has sharply criticised the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and its chairman Mohsin Naqvi for inserting themselves into the ongoing standoff between the ICC and the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB ahead of the men’s T20 World Cup.
With less than 20 days left for the start of the 20-team tournament, uncertainty continues over Bangladesh’s participation. For nearly three weeks, the BCB has maintained that its team will not travel to India, a position taken after IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders released Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman amid recent developments.
As tensions escalated, reports in Pakistani media suggested that the PCB had expressed solidarity with Bangladesh and might even reconsider Pakistan’s participation if Bangladesh were excluded. There were also claims that PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi had halted Pakistan’s preparations for the tournament.
According to ESPNCricinfo, the ICC is expected to take a final call on the matter on January 21. Bangladesh must decide by Wednesday whether to travel to India, failing which Scotland could replace them in Group C.
Reacting to the developments on his YouTube channel, Butt questioned why the PCB felt the need to step into the controversy at all.
“You float these things to test the waters and see the reactions. Pakistan says it is standing with Bangladesh, but what are the real options? If Bangladesh don’t play, will you also not play?” Butt asked.
He further challenged the PCB’s perceived leverage, saying, “Do you think your threat is so overwhelming that the ICC would agree? At the end of the day, it all depends on the decision-maker and what he thinks.”
Butt also criticised the ICC, suggesting that Bangladesh’s matches could be shifted to Sri Lanka, as has been done previously for teams like India and Pakistan. “If you allowed this for one team earlier, how can you now say ‘play or we’ll bring someone else in’? We don’t know what will happen. There’s no official word yet,” he said.
At the same time, Butt dismissed reports that Pakistan’s preparations had been stopped. He pointed out that most players likely to feature in the T20 World Cup are currently playing in leagues such as the Big Bash League and the Bangladesh Premier League.
“We heard preparations were stopped, but only two to four players were actually preparing. So what preparation did you really stop? It could be a rumour or something floated to check reactions,” he concluded.
While sections of Pakistani media continue to highlight PCB’s supposed solidarity with Bangladesh, a report by RevSportz claimed otherwise, stating that Pakistan has no grounds to withdraw as it is already scheduled to play its matches in Sri Lanka under a pre-signed agreement.