ICC World Twenty20: Ready to provide security if families of martyrs give go ahead to Indo-Pak match, says Virbhadra Singh

New Delhi: With less than a week remaining for the ICC World Twenty20 to kick off, the issue over the venue for ICC World Twenty20 match between India and Pakistan remains unsolved.

According to a report in The Indian Express, Board of Cricket for Control in India (BCCI) secretary Anurag Thakur on Wednesday met Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh to convince him over the issue.

Singh, who had earlier raised security concerns over the much-awaited encounter between the two rivals, said that Thakur needed to speak to the families of martyrs and ex-servicemen body.

“I told him that the government was fully competent to provide necessary security to the players, but he should go and talk to the families of martyrs and ex-servicemen body. If they have no problem and agree not to oppose the match, the government will not have any issue. Ball is in Anurag Thakur’s court,” he said.

Making his stand clear, Singh added that he won't use any kind of force to disperse the families of martyrs in case if they stage a protest.

“It has been made clear to Anurag Thakur that I will not use my force (police) to push and disperse the families and ex-servicemen if they choose to protest at Dharamshala on the day when the match is held. The families have taken a vow at Shaheed Samarak – located barely a few meters away from the stadium, not to let the match be held. So, I don’t want any confrontation, thus I have advised Anurag to reach-out to the families first or rather, it should have been done much before to avoid such a situation today,” Singh added.

Earlier, backing Dharamsala as the venue, Thakur said that the schedule and the venues were decided much in advance and the fans across the globe had booked their tickets as well.