Pakistan legend accuses Jay Shah of pitch tampering to favour India in IND vs PAK T20 WC clash

India and Pakistan will clash against each other in the Group A fixture featuring the two teams on the 15th of February at Colombo. The match is scheduled to be played at the R. Premadasa Stadium, and a former Pakistani great has accused the ICC of influencing the pitch under acute bias for the BCCI.

The Indo-Pakistan clashes have been common over the past two years, and other than just cricket matches, there has been war on every front, be it the borders or the diplomatic rooms. The same political tensions had, for once, thrown the T20 World Cup game featuring the two teams into acute uncertainty.

However, the uncertainty is gone now and with several cricket boards having pleaded with the PCB and their government to play the World Cup match against India, the Pakistani government issued a green signal to their team for the World Cup fixture.

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India vs Pakistan match to be held at the R Premadasa Stadium

The India vs Pakistan game in the ICC T20 World Cup was long scheduled, as these two teams were placed in the same group as per the demands of the broadcasters, who collect more massive revenue with this one game than any other game in the tournament.

Placed in the same group as India, their matches would have been played in India, had it not been for the treaty between the BCCI and PCB, which mentions that all international matches between these two teams will be played on neutral venues.

As per the deal, India played their 2025 ICC Champions Trophy matches at a neutral venue in Dubai, and Pakistan are currently playing their T20 World Cup matches in Sri Lanka. They played their first two games against the Netherlands and the USA at the Sinhalese Sports ground in Colombo, and have their game against India scheduled at the R. Premadasa Stadium.

Saqlain Mushtaq accuses the ICC of influencing tracks due to the bias for the BCCI

Though the matches are being played at neutral venues, the Pakistani people have shown distrust in the arrangements being completely unbiased. Saqlain Mushtaq, the former spinner, has made a similar claim in his recent remark.

The pitches of such games are organised by the groundsmen of the venue and some expert curators from the ICC, who supervise the work, and Mushtaq feels that the ICC can make changes to the tracks after being influenced by the BCCI.

“With the kind of technology available today and the modern-day groundsmen, the pitch can change — you never know. We know under whose influence the ICC works,” Saqlain said.

Ever since the former BCCI Secretary, Jay Shah, was crowned as the Chairman of the ICC, there have been constant claims from the Pakistan Cricket Board on the ICC's bias towards BCCI and accusations of neglecting the other boards, like PCB and BCB, have also piled up.

Pakistani veterans take a dig at Salman Agha's controversial captaincy

After the widely controversial claim, the former legendary spinner, alongside some other legendary names from Pakistan, Umar Gul and former captain Mohammad Hafeez, took a dig at the brainless captaincy of Salman Agha.

They have argued about the role of the only seam-bowling all-rounder, Faheem Ashraf, in the team. They also questioned who would bowl the 19th or 20th over for Pakistan against tough opposition like India, as Pakistan has been bowling those with spinners in their games against the minnows.

“You’ve given Usman Tariq a game, which gives him confidence ahead of India. But if you need two fast bowlers and an all-rounder going forward, the entire equation changes. Look at Jimmy Neesham he’s like our Faheem Ashraf. Some days he bowls one over, some days he bowls the 20th. Who bowls the 20th over for Pakistan? Tariq? Nawaz? Shadab? Abrar? When have they last done it? Faheem has, whether good or bad,” Saqlain argued.

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