BackIndia-Pakistan series unlikely to go ahead
A top BCCI official says board is unlikely to get required clearance from external affairs ministry for resumption of cricketing ties with Pakistan
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New Delhi: The proposed bilateral cricket series between India and Pakistan is unlikely to go ahead, a top official of the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) said on Friday.
However, a day before, BCCI official and chairman of the Indian Premier League (IPL) Rajeev Shukla said bilateral cricketing ties between India and Pakistan would resume with a five-match series, scheduled to take place in the neutral venue of Sri Lanka. Shukla said the series would tentatively start on 15 December.
The official said that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the BCCI and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was signed by its former president N Srinivasan “as part of a deal that would bring Pakistan on board for the ‘Big Three’ proposal".
According to the MoU, signed in May last year, the two countries are expected to play six bilateral series in the next eight years, including 12 Tests, 30 ODIs and 11 Twenty20s. The MoU was then converted into a so-called binding agreement in June last year, following Pakistan’s belated and grudging support for the ICC’s restructuring reforms.
In return, PCB did not oppose Srinivasan’s election as the ICC’s first ever chairman. The agreement was reported to be a reward for the significant concessions by the PCB. In August last year, the ICC, on its part, confirmed that India and Pakistan would play a bilateral series in December 2015.
Since the signing of the MoU, there has been a regime change both in the government of India and within the BCCI. Last month, Shashank Manohar was elected the BCCI president for his second term, following the demise of late Jagmohan Dalmiya. Dalmiya, during his brief return as BCCI president, was in favour of the series, subject to government clearance.
Neutral venue
Last week, following discussions between BCCI chief Shashank Manohar and his PCB counterpart Shaharyar Khan, Sri Lanka had emerged as a possible ‘neutral’ venue for the proposed bilateral series. The MoU does provide for the series to be played in a ‘neutral’ venue.
For any such move, the BCCI needs political clearance. Since the series was to be played in Sri Lanka, a third country, “the first assessment and clearance" has to be given by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). If indeed, the MEA cleared the proposal, the Press Trust of India reported, “the Home Ministry may send an advance security liaison team to the country where it may be held," in this case Sri Lanka.
The cricket board was unlikely to receive the required clearance from the foreign ministry for resumption of cricketing ties with Pakistan, the official said, requesting anonymity.
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