India, Feb. 10 -- Just hours before Pakistan agreed to play its T20 World Cup match against India on February 15, its cricket board chief Mohsin Naqvi stirred another row by invoking field marshal Asim Munir while declaring that neither he nor his government was intimidated by what he called "threats" from India and the ICC. Pakistan Cricket Board finally agreed to play the match on Monday after weeks of drama, boycott threats and back-and-forth negotiations involving the Pakistan government, the ICC and multiple cricket boards.

Naqvi, who is also Pakistan's interior minister, brought the military leadership into the conversation, a move that analysts feel is an attempt to turn a cricket dispute into a civil-military signal. Speaking at ...