And We're Back.....

GH bears glad tidings

It’s back on. Synchronise your timepieces for 12.30am Monday, because it turns out that Pakistan will take the field against India, as Et Al suggested might be the outcome of the week’s brinkmanship

Mohsin Naqvi sticking it back together

Groucho Marx said that if you didn’t like his principles, he had others. The same turns out to be true of Pakistan Cricket Board chief and Pakistan home minister Mohsin Naqvi. Having withdrawn from their match against India because of the great principle that Bangladesh should be able to choose venues for their international games, in emulation of India, Pakistan returned with a different set of demands, which went just as unmet. It wasn’t in the ICC’s gift to restore bilateral ties between Pakistan and India; it was hardly possible for the ICC to reconfigure their financial model, however inequitable, under pain of a boycott. The ICC’s two concessions are waiving any ‘financial, sporting or administrative penalty’ on Bangladesh for their withdrawal, although I dare say they won’t be receiving their participation fee, and the crumb ‘that Bangladesh will host an ICC event prior to the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2031’, about which Bangladesh Cricket Board’s chief Aminul Islam became quite emotional.

We are deeply moved by Pakistan’s efforts to go above and beyond in supporting Bangladesh during this period ... I request Pakistan to play the game on 15 February against India for the benefit of the entire cricket ecosystem.