The ICC has warned the Pakistan Cricket Board that it faces the prospect of legal action from T20 World Cup’s official broadcasters JioStar for boycotting its February 15 game against India, a PCB source said on Tuesday.

Pakistan decided to boycott the match in Colombo on February 15 on the instructions of their government, but haven’t yet officially specified the reasons to the ICC. There is a possibility that the ICC will withhold the entire annual revenue share of Pakistan, which is around US $35 million and pay the broadcasters from that purse.

The PCB source said that although chairman Mohsin Naqvi had taken advice from the board’s legal experts before briefing PM Shehbaz Sharif on the issue last week, the board is bracing for some serious consequences. “If Pakistan doesn’t relent and play against India, not only will they face financial penalties, perhaps a lawsuit from broadcasters, but also any efforts to go to the ICC Dispute Resolution Committee (DRC) are likely to fail,” the source said.

The ICC’s DRC is an internal committee which doesn’t hear appeals against the decisions made by its own board. “The PCB might face problems regardless of their government directive to not play India as they are playing all their matches at a neutral venue Sri Lanka, as per their wishes, and not in India,” another PCB source said.

“Secondly, while the Indian government has not given permission to its team to play in Pakistan, it has not stopped them from playing against Pakistan at neutral venues in Asia Cup or ICC events even after the May conflict,” the source, who tracks Naqvi closely, said.

The PCB is yet to communicate in writing to the ICC, but the boycott decision is being seen as an act of solidarity with Bangladesh after their ouster. “When the ICC signed its four-year deal with the broadcaster for all ICC events, the contract included Pakistan and India matches, based on which the broadcaster made the payments to the ICC,” the source explained. “So the broadcaster will be within its rights to take the PCB and ICC to court over a major breach of the contract.”

It is reliably learnt that the PCB approached other member boards for support on the matter, but failed to find any backers.

Will Naqvi make a volte-face?

Some believe that Naqvi, who is also the interior minister of his country, might just make a U-turn once the general elections are held in Bangladesh on February 12 and a democratic government takes charge instead of the present one headed by Mohammed Yunus.

“Naqvi, more than a cricket administrator, is a politician who is not one bit bothered about the welfare of the national team. He is trying to score a brownie point, and could well flip once the elections are held on February 12. There would still be two days before the India game and things could just change. Else he knows that Pakistan could be ostracised,” another source tracking Pakistan cricket said.

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