November 10, 2015
MUMBAI, INDIA – While all the focus was on the code dealing with conflicts of interest and N Srinivasan’s position as India’s representative in the International Cricket Council, there was a hint of good news emerging for cricket fans with the chances of India playing Pakistan in December receiving a serious shot in the arm.
November 10, 2015
MUMBAI, INDIA – While all the focus was on the code dealing with conflicts of interest and N Srinivasan’s position as India’s representative in the International Cricket Council, there was a hint of good news emerging for cricket fans with the chances of India playing Pakistan in December receiving a serious shot in the arm.
Shashank Manohar, the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, reminded the members gathered in Mumbai for the 85th annual general meeting that the BCCI had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Pakistan Cricket Board to play a series featuring two Test matches and five One-Day Internationals in the United Arab Emirates in December 2015.
“We have committed to play Pakistan in December. It’s not possible to play in Pakistan and the UAE, so the most practical option is to play the series in North India,” said Manohar to members, a source told Wisden India.
Later, at a press interaction, Manohar was asked about the Pakistan series. “To play against Pakistan we need to get government permission,” he stressed. “So we need to speak to the government and whatever decision the government takes the BCCI will decide accordingly.”
Later, when asked whether the BCCI planned to invite a team to come and play in India in December after the South Africa series ends, Manohar said, “As I told you, it depends on what happens with the Pakistan series.”
The planned India-Pakistan series hit a roadblock when a scheduled meeting between Shaharyar Khan, the PCB chief, and Manohar was prevented from taking place at the BCCI office by members of the Shiv Sena political party, who raised slogans and protested against the Pakistani’s presence in the Mumbai headquarters of the board.
Manohar, however, was keen to honour the MoU the BCCI has signed, and even went to the extent of suggesting that the revenue earned from the television rights for the series be shared between the two boards. Typically, it is the home board that benefits from the sale of television rights for a bilateral series.
India and Pakistan last played Tests in 2007 and a bilateral ODI series in 2012.
Courtesy: Wisden India
