By boycotting India, we will only hurt ourselves: PCB

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shaharyar Khan recently said that the board will not cut cricket ties with India. His statement came in after questions were being raised on the future between the two sides in the game of cricket. Recently, the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) made a bold move in saying it will boycott all future events in India.

Earlier, the Pakistan team was dropped from participating in the Junior World Cup scheduled to be played in India. The PHF secretary was clearly miffed with the decision. Thus his counter decision to boycott all international future events in India came in as a protest. There were speculations that the PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan might also follow his footsteps.

The ties between India and Pakistan have been on a sour note in the recent past. The political differences and weak ties between the two nations have now spread across the sporting arena too. Shaharyar Khan was direct in saying that India-Pakistan matches bring in high financial benefits. Moreover, there are many fans who wish to witness the two teams facing off in the cricket field.

“Look, we will not take any such decision because it will be unfair to millions of people who want to watch Indo-Pak matches. Secondly, whenever we play against each other it means big financial benefits for the boards and players and any boycott will only hurt us financially,” quoted Khan.

He went on to add that if PCB boycotts India then it will be a loss to them. “By boycotting matches with India, we will only hurt ourselves,” he added.

Both the boards, PCB and the BCCI, are scheduled to meet in the Asian Cricket Council meet in Colombo this month. There are speculations of the two countries participating in a tri-series or a multi-team tournament.