Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra reckons Pakistan’s decision to boycott the T20 World Cup clash against India could have major repercussions. While the Pakistan government has given permission to the team to travel to Sri Lanka, they said the side will not take the field against the arch-rivals.
India and Pakistan were once again placed in the same group by the ICC and they were all set to lock horns against each other on 15th February at Colombo.
Chopra said other nations might not play against Pakistan in a bilateral series and the players might also pull out of PSL.
“Firstly, it’s a slightly rough calculation. It’s not written anywhere how much you would earn from a particular game. The rumor market is hot at the moment. Everyone is saying whatever they wish. So you can’t say that you get a quarter billion dollars from this,” Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.
“Plenty of things might happen. Everyone else will say, ‘Tum to maroge hi, hume kyon le ke doob rahe ho (You will die, why are you drowning us with you).’ They will ask them to be thrown out. Don’t make them a part of the FTP. You can reprimand them because they are not bringing anything. You might not give NOC to their players or don’t have bilateral engagements with them,” he added.
Chopra added that Pakistan has been inconsistent in major ICC tournaments, and it’s not like they are an incredible team.
“Pakistan cricket is important not because they play well, as they don’t play well. They have reached the final of an ICC event only twice in the last 10 years. They won for the last time in 2017 and reached the final in 2022. It’s not like they are an incredible cricketing team,” he said.
“Pakistan is important because the India-Pakistan rivalry is alive. The day you kill that rivalry, that India and Pakistan will not play against each other, India will continue on their merry way, but Pakistan’s value, in terms of what they bring to the table, absolutely diminishes,” Chopra observed.
Pakistan is in Group A along with India, Namibia, the Netherlands, and the USA.
