The Pulwama attack wherein a suicide bomber killed 40 CRPF jawans has seen relation between arch-rivals India and Pakistan hit an all-time low. Even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has promised action, cricket fans want Virat Kohli and boys to boycott Pakistan and not play them at Manchester on June 16 in their group game of the 2019 World Cup. While many are questioning if the Members Participation Agreement (MPA) will allow BCCI to do that, treasurer Anirudh Chaudhry answered in the affirmative.
Speaking to Hindustan Times, the treasurer cited the Special General Meeting of the board on June 22, 2018 and said that the Indian board was yet to sign the MPA and that gave the BCCI right to decide on whether it will play the arch-rivals in the World Cup.
“The BCCI had resolved at the Special General Meeting that the members participation agreement shall not be executed without the authorization of the general body of the BCCI and the BCCI reserves all its rights regarding the MPA and regarding its participation in any other multi-nation tournament or games not covered by the MPA. That answers your question,” he said.
Earlier, ICC CEO Dave Richardson said that the governing body has no reasons to make any changes to the proposed World Cup schedule and that all matches will be played as planned.
“We haven’t written to the boards as yet,” Richardson said on Tuesday to mark the 100-day countdown to the tournament. “Our thoughts are with the people that were impacted by the incident. And we are monitoring the situation with our members including the BCCI and PCB. Certainly, there are no indications any of the matches, including the Pakistan-India match, will not be played as planned at the World Cup. But as I say we will continue to monitor the situation.”
