Ahead of the much-awaited meeting between BCCI and PCB, Sports minister Vijay Goel has ruled out the possibility of the happening of India & Pakistan series in near future till the terrorism on the other side of border doesn’t end.
India and Pakistan last played each other in a bilateral series in December 2012 while the last test between the two arch-rivals was played in December 2007. 2006 was the last time India toured Pakistan for a bilateral series.
“BCCI should come out with a proposal on Pakistan only after consultations with the government. I have already made it clear that any bilateral series with Pakistan is almost impossible because there cannot be sports relations between the two countries until there is terrorism from the Pakistani side,” Union Sports Minister Vijay Goel.
“Sports and terrorism cannot go hand in hand,” he added.
In 2014 an attempt was made to revive India-Pakistan cricket relations where BCCI and PCB signed an MoU. Upon the signing of MoU it was decided to that India will play 6 bilateral series against Pakistan between 2015 to 2023 (2 at home and 4 away). In return PCB will vote in favour of Big 3 model where majority of ICC’s revenue will be shared by India, Australia and England.
“We honour international commitments, we play with Pak there; won”t be playing any bilateral series until govt approves,” IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla
In December 2015 India were due to play Pakistan in UAE. However the then BCCI president Shashank Manohar refused and said India cannot tour UAE becomes of some reasons and he didn’t disclose them. PCB estimated a loss of $200 to $300 million because of India pulling out at the last moment.
In return he offered PCB a series in India which PCB declined. PCB has threatened to sue BCCI because of India’s failure to honor MoU. However BCCI has contended that MoU was ‘just a letter’ and is not legally enforceable.
BCCI acting President Amitabh Choudhary will represent BCCI while PCB will be represented by Chairman Shaharyar Khan. It will be interesting to see what pans out in the meeting but right now it seems the possibility of India vs Pakistan series taking place looks bleak.
– by Atharva Apte
