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India-Pakistan Match: This time too, when the situation got complicated, ICC put forward Imran Khawaja. He arrived in Lahore and held a six-hour meeting with Mohsin Naqvi and Bangladesh Cricket Board President Aminul Islam at Gaddafi Stadium. The conversation was calm and positive. Khawaja explained the pros and cons. He advised to keep cricket above politics. He told how everyone will be harmed by the absence of this one match. Naqvi accepted their words wholeheartedly. Finally, they were accepted. The Pakistani government took a U-turn. They also put pressure on Pakistan from countries like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and UAE.
Ind vs Pak T20 World Cup: Pakistan is finally ready to play the match. He has agreed to play for India in the T20 World Cup. The India-Pakistan match will now take place on February 15, 2026. As per the scheduled programme, the Indian and Pakistani teams will face each other in Colombo. However, at first it looked like the match would not take place. After 10 days of drama, the Pakistani government has ordered its team to play. The Pakistani government had threatened to boycott the match in the name of standing with Bangladesh. But now everything has changed. There is a wave of excitement among cricket fans waiting for the India-Pakistan match.
If Pakistan has agreed to play a match with India, one person has a big hand in it. That man’s name is Imran Khawaja. Imran Khawaja, a resident of Singapore, is the person who convinced PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi to find Laya. He persuaded Pakistan to play, sometimes by threatening penalties and sometimes by persuading them. Hailing from a Muslim family, Imran Khawaja is the Deputy Chairman of the ICC. He is 64 years old and also a lawyer. He worked so quietly behind the scenes that the India-Pakistan match was saved. He settled everything only through meetings and discussions.
In fact, Bangladesh were kicked out of the T20 World Cup after refusing to play in India due to security reasons. Bangladesh initially refused to play in India. Then Pakistan supported Bangladesh and announced that they too will not play Team India. Due to Mohsin Naqvi’s insistence, everyone was expecting the February 15 match to be cancelled. Cricket fans were disappointed. They thought they would no longer be able to watch the high-voltage India-Pakistan match. But it became possible because of Imran Khawaja. He worked very hard to make the India-Pakistan match.
It is said that whenever the ICC needs a calm mediator or fixer, someone who can talk to power and not provoke him, Imran Khawaja’s name comes up time and again. When it appeared that Pakistan’s stubborn stance would prevent the February 15 match from taking place, the ICC turned to its deputy chairman, Imran Khawaja, to manage the situation and save cricket’s greatest rivalry.
Ind vs Pak: That Muslim person, due to which the India-Pakistan match is going to happen, how did it happen behind the scenes?
Imran Khawaja, Singapore Cricket Association representative and long-time ICC powerbroker Haban, is respected by full and associate members, and trusted by administrators across the sub-continent and beyond. The onus was on them to find a way to keep the India vs Pakistan match in the Pakistan Cricket Board Cup schedule.
Khawaja has been part of the ICC’s inner circle since 2008 and has been serving as Deputy Chair since 2017. He has chaired and served on some of the organization’s most influential committees – Finance and Business Affairs, Nominations, Membership and Development. He is a key architect of the ICC’s modern constitution, which revived voting power and gave associate nations a stronger voice.
Champions of small nations in ICC…
During Shashank Manohar’s tenure, Imran Khawaja emerged as a driving force behind efforts to democratize the ICC board. Imran Khawaja has been one of the pillars of the ICC’s strength even during times of turmoil. When Manohar stepped down in 2020, he took over as interim chairman and led the organization through a sporting calendar disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
This time too, when the situation got complicated, the ICC put forward Imran Khawaja. He arrived in Lahore and held a six-hour meeting with Mohsin Naqvi and Bangladesh Cricket Board President Aminul Islam at Gaddafi Stadium. The conversation was calm and positive. Khawaja explained the pros and cons. He advised to keep cricket above politics. He told how everyone will be harmed by the absence of this one match. Naqvi accepted their words wholeheartedly. Finally, they were accepted. The Pakistani government took a U-turn. They also put pressure on Pakistan from countries like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and UAE.
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