NEW DELHI: The Indian cricket board has decided to fully oppose if ban on Zimbabwe is proposed at the ICC meeting.
“There is no reason to remove Zimbabwe,” Indian cricket board secretary Niranjan Shah said as the International Cricket Council (ICC) debated the African country’s future at its annual meetings here.
Cricket boards of South Africa and England last week suspended bilateral ties with Zimbabwe in protest at the deteriorating political situation in Harare, where Robert Mugabe has been controversially re-elected as president.
The ICC’s decision-making executive board will take up the issue this week after the British government demanded that Zimbabwe be excluded from next year’s Twenty20 World Championships in England.
The support of seven of the ICC’s 10 full members, which include Zimbabwe, is required to suspend a nation from world cricket, but that appears unlikely given India’s stance.
India, the sport’s economic powerhouse, is almost certain to be backed by the three other Asian Test nations — Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh — on keeping Zimbabwe in the ICC.
The Asian bloc usually votes together on major cricket issues.
It was not immediately clear if Australia, the West Indies and New Zealand will back England and South Africa on Zimbabwe’s exclusion.
“We understand England’s position because their government wants Zimbabwe out,” said Shah. “Even our tour commitments are determined by government advice.
“But we will back Zimbabwe to stay in the ICC.”
Source : Geo News
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