There are possibilities that men's team might not play Champions Trophy in protest against the women cricketers being made "soft targets" in the name of rules and regulations.
A furious BCCI has lodged a protest with the global body who are well aware that any bilateral series against Pakistan needs government permission under current political scenario, which ICC's Indian chairman is well aware.
"This is a move with ulterior motive trying to play into the hands of Pakistan. They would say if women can play so can men. But that won't happen. If ICC does not backtrack, the men's team in solidarity with our women's team won't play in Champions Trophy," he added.
An ICC release today stated: "Following consideration of written submissions from both PCB and BCCI, the ICC Technical Committee has ruled that the India Women's team is deemed to have forfeited each of the three matches it was due to play against Pakistan in Round 6 of the ICC Women's Championship, and that the associated points should be awarded to Pakistan.
Also Read
The Technical Committee said while it was sensitive to the current state of relations between the nations of India and Pakistan, but concluded that the BCCI had not been able to establish 'acceptable reasons' for not participating in the series.
A top ranking office bearer of the BCCI commented: "It seems as if Manohar's anti-BCCI stand is becoming an anti-India stance. As a former BCCI president he is well aware why the men's team could not play a bilateral series with Pakistan last year. Despite that if Indian women's team is docked points for not playing Pakistan, it means he does not care about the public sentiment."
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content