India will strongly back Sri Lanka if it moves a proposal to relieve umpires of their powers to forfeit a match, Board of Control for Cricket in India secretary Niranjan Shah said on Thursday.

Responding to Sri Lanka's call to the International Cricket Council to initiate discussions on whether umpires should be allowed to forfeit matches, Shah said even the match referee should not be empowered to take such an extreme step.

"There should not be any clause in the laws of the game that allows for forfeiting the game. This power should not be vested even with the match referee, let alone the umpires," Shah said.

Pakistan were deemed to have forfeited the fourth Test against England at the Oval earlier this month after they refused to take the field in protest against charges of ball tampering by Australian umpire Darrell Hair.

Following the Oval Test forfeiture, Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul Haq faces a ban of up to eight one-day internationals or four Tests. The date of his hearing is yet to be announced.

Shah said a match can be cancelled but never forfeited.

"Unless there are riots or bad weather or any other unforeseen circumstances which are out of control of the organisers, the match should always go ahead," he said.

"Stopping the game on the pretext of any law should never be allowed because the spectators, the large number of TV audience and the sponsors should not be robbed off the opportunity to watch the game."