Sourav Ganguly slams PCB's India boycott threat, asks 'backing out of a World Cup for what?'

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly expressed his frustration on Sunday towards the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for their threat to forfeit the T20 World Cup Group A match against India, stating he couldn't understand the reasoning behind such a decision. This came after the Government of Pakistan instructed the PCB to boycott the match in support of Bangladesh, who were eliminated from the tournament when the ICC denied their request to relocate group-stage games from India due to security issues. Bangladesh was later replaced by Scotland.

After several days of international talks, during which PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi even conferred with Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the government prohibited Pakistan’s players from participating in the scheduled match against India on February 15 in Colombo.

“Backing out of a World Cup for what? They are playing in Sri Lanka anyway. I am surprised Pakistan are backing out. In a World Cup, every point is important,” Ganguly said on the sidelines of the BPCL auction.

In the meantime, the ICC and PCB have initiated discussions following the latter's request to the governing body to invoke the ‘Force Majeure’ clause to withdraw from the game. ICC deputy chair Imran Khwaja arrived in Lahore on Sunday for negotiations with Naqvi, which will also include Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Aminul Islam.

Ganguly also supported India’s bold batting strategy in the T20 World Cup, despite their disappointing performance in the tournament opener against the USA on Saturday in Mumbai.

“That’s what T20 cricket is — you have to keep hitting,” he said. “They are very good players and have been doing this for a long time. There will be games where things don’t come off because they are human beings.”

“This is a very powerful team — strong in batting, bowling, spin and fielding. As the World Cup progresses, they will only get better. Once you get into the tournament, the rhythm comes back. I consider India favourites, and they will be very hard to beat.”

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