The first hints, though faint, of the resumption of India-Pakistan cricketing ties emerged at the AGM when president Shashank Manohar informed the meeting that the BCCI had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to play a two-Test and five-match one-day series in the United Arab Emirates in December 2015.
“We are committed to playing Pakistan in December. However, since it’s not possible to play them in Pakistan or the UAE, we have to look at playing the series in Northern India in December,” said Manohar, giving the latest status report on the series.
Though former and current Pakistan players have urged PCB not to pursue the series because of BCCI’s lack of encouraging response, PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan has time and again impressed upon Manohar to give his best shot to execute the MoU and play in the UAE.
After his election in October, Manohar had said that resumption of India-Pakistan series hinged not only on the decision of the Boards, but also on the decision of the two governments in New Delhi and Islamabad.
“To play against Pakistan we need to get government permission. So we need to speak to the government and abide by whatever decision the government takes,” he said.
When asked whether BCCI would be inviting a team to play a home series in December, Manohar said at the post AGM press conference: “It all depends on what happens to the proposed India-Pakistan series.
“We have to get an appointment with the government first and then we will take a call.”
India and Pakistan have not played a Test series since December 2007 and a One-Day International series since December 2012.
AGM highlights
ICC representative: BCCI president Shashank Manohar to replace N. Srinivasan in the International Cricket Council and so he will also be Chairman of ICC; Sharad Pawar will be alternate representative.
New Test venues: Rajkot, Pune, Indore, Visakhapatnam, Dharamshala and Ranchi.
Senior selection committee : Sandeep Patil (chairman), Vikram Rathour, Saba Karim, M.S.K. Prasad (for Roger Binny) and Gagan Khoda (for Rajinder Singh Hans).
Junior selection committee: Venkatesh Prasad (chairman replacing Connor Williams), Rakesh Parikh, Gyanendra Pandey, Aman Kumar and Arup Bhattacharya.
Women’s selection committee: Shanta Rangaswamy (chairperson), Anjali Pendharkar, Sunita Sharma, Hemlata Kale and Lopamudra B.
IPL Governing Council for 2015-16: Rajeev Shukla (chairman), Jyotiraditya Scindia, Ajay Shirke, M.P. Pandove and Sourav Ganguly.
Disciplinary Committee for 2015-16: Shashank Manohar (chairman), Jyotiraditya Scindia and Niranjan Shah.
Legal committee: P.S. Raman (chairman), Dr. D.V.S.S Somayajulu and Abhay Apte.
Chairmen of other committees: Technical Committee: Sourav Ganguly (replacing Anil Kumble), National Cricket Academy Board: Niranjan Shah, Marketing Committee: Chetan Desai, IT & Data Management Committee: Jay Shah, Finance Committee: Jyotiraditya Scindia, Tour Programme and Fixtures Committee: Dr. G. Gangaraju, TV Production Committee: Aashirbad Behera, New Area Development Committee: Avishek Dalmiya, Senior Tournament Committee: Gautam Roy, Junior Cricket Committee: T.C. Mathew, Media Committee: Arun Singh Thakur, Umpires Committee: C.K. Khanna, Vizzy Trophy: M.L Nehru, Infrastructure Subsidy Committee: Prakash Dixit and Women’s Committee: Kapil Malhotra.
Cities chosen for two IPL franchises for 2016 and 2017: Rajkot, Pune, Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Cuttack, Ranchi, Nagpur, Indore and Dharamshala
