LAHORE (Kashmir English): Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Mohsin Naqvi has received an invitation to attend the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) board meeting and the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 final in Ahmedabad later this month, Geo News reported, citing sources.
The development comes as the ICC prepares to hold a series of meetings, including sessions of the Chief Executives Committee (CEC) and the board, to discuss the future of the World Test Championship (WTC).
The next round of meetings is scheduled for next week, with ICC’s chief executives committee (CEC) will hold a virtual meeting on May 21, followed by an in-person ICC Board meeting in Ahmedabad during the IPL’s final weekend on May 30-31, ESPNcricinfo reported.
Sources said that Naqvi has forwarded the invitation to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who will decide whether he should travel to India to attend the meeting and the IPL 2026 final.
It is pertinent to mention that the upcoming meetings, part of the ICC’s quarterly gatherings, were originally scheduled to be held in March-April in Doha, Qatar, but had to be postponed due to conflicts in the region.
Last year, the ICC appointed a working group led by former New Zealand batter Roger Twose to make recommendations on a new structure for the WTC. The WTC is currently in its fourth cycle, and while it appears likely the ICC will retain the existing structure for the next one (2027-29), one of the recommendations is expanding it to 12 teams, bringing in the remaining Full Members – Zimbabwe, Ireland, and Afghanistan. The recommendation will go to the CEC before being taken up by the board.
The recommendations involved Zimbabwe, Ireland, and Afghanistan being allowed to play and for the league to consider a one-Test series for WTC points.
Currently, the nine Full Members schedule their WTC commitments bilaterally, with three home and three away series over the course of two years, with a mandatory minimum of two Tests per series.
The ICC’s current Future Tours Programme (FTP) ends next March with the WTC final scheduled in England in June 2027. While the FTP comprises bilateral series negotiated between the member boards, the ICC ratifies the final structure.
