Pakistan slams ICC, Jay Shah for ‘biased’ statement in solidarity with Afghanistan: ‘Without any real evidence...’

Pakistan Minister on Sunday has accused the International Cricket Council (ICC) of issuing a “selective, biased” statement on the deaths of three cricketers in Afghanistan, and claimed that it was presented without any real evidence.

This comes a day after the ICC chairman Jay Shah and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) expressed condolences at the death of three promising Afghanistan cricketers, who lost their lives in an air strike conducted in the Argun and Barmal districts of Paktika province, without mentioning Pakistan in their respective statements.

The governing bodies reacted after the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) decided to withdraw its team from a tri-series in Pakistan next month.

The Pakistan Cricket Board had later announced that it would replace Afghanistan with Zimbabwe for the tri-series that also involves Sri Lanka.

Here's what the Pakistani minister said:

Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Information, Ata Tarar, said that his country is dismissing and condemning ICC's statement, which he said, “gives the impression that the three Afghan cricketers were killed in Pakistan strikes”.

In a statement issued on Sunday, Tarar said, “The ICC has not bothered to independently verify the claims by the Afghanistan board and issued a statement claiming a Pakistan attack.”

The minister said Pakistan itself had been a victim of terrorism for years and demanded the ICC correct its statement.

“It is strange that a few hours after the ICC statement, the Chairman of the ICC Jay Shah repeated the same words on his social media account and the Afghanistan board followed with similar words,” he said.

“The Afghanistan board made statements without presenting any real evidence,” he added.

Several Afghan cricketers, including stars such as Rashid Khan and Gulbadin Naib, had condemned the aerial attack and the subsequent deaths in strong language through their social media posts on Saturday.

Tarar said the recent happenings, including the no-handshake episode in the recent Asia Cup, could be taken as a biased approach towards Pakistan cricket.

“This seriously raises questions on the ICC’s independence and unbiased approach. An international sports governing body should not be promoting a controversial claim yet to be verified,” he said.

“The ICC should remain independent and avoid making contentious statements on the incitement of others,” he said.

(With agency inputs)