Former BCCI president Anurag Thakur criticized this decision. He claimed that Pakistan is avoiding or running away from this match due to the fear of losing again to India. After Anurag Tagore’s comments, the matter came to the center of more political and diplomatic discussions. A section of cricket lovers feel that such a decision on the sports field is hurting the spirit of the game.

According to the statement of the government of Pakistan, not only sports, but also the internal political situation of the country played a major role behind this decision. The match against India has reportedly become politically sensitive, especially due to the recent attacks in Balochistan and security concerns. However, no final investigation report into these allegations has been made public yet.

Besides, this decision is also being linked with the exclusion of Bangladesh from the World Cup. Bangladesh requested to shift the match against India to Sri Lanka citing security reasons but the ICC did not agree. It was then that Bangladesh was excluded and Scotland was included, which Pakistan expressed displeasure with.

All in all, the World Cup, co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka, has been overshadowed by political tensions before the start of the tournament. The Pakistan Cricket Board had already informed that the government will take the final decision in this regard. Now, even though Pakistan’s participation in the tournament is confirmed by that decision, experts believe that there will be a big impact on the excitement of the World Cup as there is no India-Pakistan match.