ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat rued that Pakistan decided to take the legal course to resolve the matter and hoped it would "withdraw its spurious claims".

"We are naturally disappointed that the PCB has chosen to pursue its grievance with the ICC through legal channels but, having received correspondence from its lawyers, we have now responded," Lorgat said in a statement.

"We used our response to clarify inaccuracies and misunderstandings in the PCB's claim. We also pointed out that the ICC Board agreed only that WC 2011 matches should be moved away from Pakistan, not that the PCB should be removed from its position as a joint host of the event itself," he said.

Lorgat made it clear that game's world governing body had the power to shift the location of ties in the best interest of its members who grow on revenue from ICC tournaments.

"The suggestion the ICC Board was not empowered to decide that matches should be moved away from Pakistan and that such a decision was 'legally flawed' is also incorrect and without foundation. The ICC Board is the policy-making body for international cricket and has broad powers under its constitution," he said.

"The ICC Board's decision was a sad one to have to take but it was taken on the basis of what was best for all 104 of the ICC's Members," Lorgat said.

"The ICC Cricket World Cup is our flagship event. It generates the majority of ICC event income for our great sport and without that income many of those Members would struggle to operate or grow the game in the way they are currently able to," he added.

The ICC CEO said the PCB would only divert funds in other direction instead of development purpose by pursuing the matter through legal channels.

"Given that fact, we need to deliver a tournament that is safe, secure and, above all, successful and it was on that basis that the decision was taken that matches could not be played in Pakistan.

"We hope that the PCB will reflect on this matter, withdraw its spurious claims and, as a responsible Full Member, engage with us in an appropriate manner.

"We also hope it realises that by attempting to pursue