Citing heavy losses all around, Lankan Cricket Board urges PCB to reconsider boycott of Indo-Pak fixture

Colombo: Co-host Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) on Thursday urged its Pakistani counterpart PCB to reconsider the decision to boycott the high stakes India-Pakistan contest here on February 15 citing the heavy losses it would inflict on all stakeholders of the T20 World Cup.

Pakistan government announced the boycott of the marquee game against India in support of Bangladesh who withdrew from the World Cup citing security concerns in India despite low threat perception from the International Cricket Council.

There could be a fresh twist to the drama now with SLC writing a letter to PCB.

SLC sources told PTI that its executive committee met on Tuesday and decided to write to the Pakistan Cricket Board, urging the Pakistanis to reconsider their controversial decision. The letter was eventually dispatched on Thursday.

In the letter, SLC warned the PCB of potential adverse impact on tourism including cancellations of hotel bookings, flight reservations and logistical supplier inconveniences.

The SLC also mentioned in the letter that it was ready to host the sellout fixture at the Premadasa Stadium.

According to Newswire, SLC warned PCB that any non-participation in a marquee fixture of this nature would have wide-ranging implications, including substantial financial exposure, the loss of anticipated tourism inflows, and broader economic fallout.

"The correspondence also pointed out that Sri Lanka Cricket, together with the Government of Sri Lanka, is mindful of the wider impact a boycott could have, affecting not only Sri Lanka Cricket but a broad range of stakeholders involved in ensuring the successful conduct of the tournament," the report added.

In the letter, SLC also reminded the PCB of the role the former played in lifting Pakistan cricket out of international isolation by touring the country multiple times under "challenging and sensitive circumstances, including periods marked by serious security incidents, when other cricketing nations were hesitant to do so".

It was a reference to the period when teams stopped touring Pakistan following the terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore in 2009.

As per the Sri Lanka news website, SLC said it expects the same spirit of reciprocity to prevail, noting that Sri Lanka has extended full assurances on security, neutrality, and professionalism for all matches hosted in the country.

In a media interaction on Thursday, India captain Suryakumar Yadav made it clear that his team would be travelling to Colombo for the clash against Pakistan.

Pakistan captain Salman Agha, in a separate interaction, said his team will go by its government directive.

The absence of an India-Pakistan contest in the ICC event could cause losses to the tune of USD 250 million.