The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) continued to be in the dark as far as the proposed one-day series against Pakistan was concerned.
“We have not heard anything official from the PCB [Pakistan Cricket Board] chairman [Shahryar Khan]. Until we get something in writing or anything is communicated to BCCI, I won’t be in a position to make any comment on that,” Board secretary Anurag Thakur said here on Thursday.
“I must set the record straight for everyone’s benefit that in April 2014 BCCI’s ex-boss [N. Srinivasan] had signed an agreement with the PCB while bringing a few changes to the constitution of ICC [International Cricket Council]. According to which, if resolutions take place in the ICC constitution, then India will play against Pakistan in this period for the next eight years. And according to that agreement, the PCB was supposed to host India on a neutral venue in the month of December,” Mr. Thakur explained.
The PCB chairman and the newly-elected BCCI president Shashank Manohar concurred that Sri Lanka was the neutral venue to stage the series. “BCCI wrote a letter to the government because Indo-Pak relations are always like this. Also, this is not the first time that the series is on hold like this. A lot has depended on the relations between the two countries. Media was hoping that Sushma Swaraj’s visit [to Pakistan] will decide the fate of the cricket series. But when it comes to relations between the countries then a lot is stake and many things are taken into consideration before coming to a definite conclusion. And whenever the Indian government will take a decision on this we will let you know,” Mr. Thakur emphasised.
Mr. Thakur insisted, “The BCCI has made its position pretty clear that because of the 2014 agreement that came into being before my term as Secretary, we had to write to them and ask for permission from the government. And till the government does not give its nod, BCCI will not take any step. The security of the national players is top priority and the government’s decision is also top on agenda. And one has to look at many other things when it comes to taking decisions regarding Pakistan.”
