India’s World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev slammed Pakistan for giving a boycott threat ahead of the T20 World Cup. The Pakistan government recently gave permission to their cricket team to travel to Sri Lanka for the World Cup, but said Salman Agha’s team will not play against India.

Kapil Dev, the former talismanic all-rounder, said Pakistan is killing the generation by not giving their players a chance to perform at the top stage.

“If the decision was taken by the players, they can come out and say. However, if the board says that you will not play, the reputation of the country comes down. It is not looking bright for Pakistan. You are killing the generation. Pakistan have given us fantastic talents over the years. But if you will not allow these boys to play in the World Cup, you are killing the generation and hurting the game. You are being unfair to your own players.”

Meanwhile, the ICC’s Playing Conditions dictate that Pakistan’s net run rate will also be hit by the forfeiture, but India’s will remain unaffected. Clause 16.10.7 states that in the event of a forfeit, “the net run rate of the defaulting team shall be affected in that the full 20 overs of the defaulting team’s innings in such forfeited match shall be taken into account in calculating the average runs per over of the defaulting team over the course of the relevant portion of the competition.”

Dev added that in the long run, no one will miss Pakistan if they don’t play against India.

“The emotions and spectators will be impacted. But, in the long run, no one will miss them. People will not think about it for a long time, and they will ultimately move on,” said Kapil Dev (via the aforementioned source).

Pakistan is in Group A along with India, Namibia, the Netherlands, and the USA.