Pressure on Pak to play against India

Karachi:Imran Khwaja, deputy chair of the International Cricket Council, arrived in Lahore on Sunday evening for crucial talks with PCB officials as efforts to resolve the standoff over Pakistan's proposed boycott of the high stakes T20 World Cup match against India gather pace.

Khwaja, who represents Singapore in the ICC, is an influential figure in the world governing body and has voting rights on the board as an associate member director.

A source close to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) confirmed Khwaja has been nominated by the ICC board as a mediator on the controversial subject.

"He has been in talks with Mohsin Naqvi for a while now and he is reaching Lahore today to first talk to the PCB chief and also the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) President, Aminul Islam before the virtual meeting this evening," the source said.

Aminul is already in Lahore and has met Naqvi on Sunday. Aminul is expected to be part of the discussions aimed at persuading Pakistan to reconsider its decision not to play India in Colombo on February 15.

The two officials -- Khwaja and Aminul -- were greeted at the airport by senior PCB officials and then driven to the Gaddafi Stadium where they are scheduled to meet with the board's chief Mohsin Naqvi.