Sri Lanka’s President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has expressed gratitude to Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for his decisive action in directing the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to lift the boycott on their T20 World Cup match against India, scheduled for February 15.
Thanks to the intervention, the highly anticipated India-Pakistan clash will proceed as planned after the Pakistani government opted to withdraw its boycott following appeals from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. This resolution alleviates concerns that had overshadowed the ongoing tournament.
“I am thrilled that the much-anticipated India-Pakistan match at the T20 Cricket World Cup in Colombo will take place as planned,” Dissanayake shared on the X platform.
Earlier this week, Dissanayake made a personal call to Sharif to advocate for the match, following a formal letter from Sri Lanka Cricket urging PCB to reconsider its stance. The Prime Minister’s office confirmed Dissanayake’s outreach, marking a significant step toward ending the boycott.
Initially, Pakistan had declared its intention not to compete against India, a decision linked to political tensions surrounding Bangladesh’s exclusion from the tournament after the international body declined its request to relocate matches from India to Sri Lanka due to security concerns.
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