Summary PCB wrote another letter to the Indian board about the India-Pakistan series, demanding answer
LAHORE: (Dunya News) – Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has on Saturday told the Indian cricket board that it will consider the Pakistan-India series officially dead if no answer from the Indian side by Monday, reported Dunya News.
In a letter written to Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI), PCB has made it clear before BCCI that the series between the two teams will be considered dead if PCB doesn’t receive an answer within next 2 days.
BCCI needs permission from its government over Pakistan series. According to the Indian media, it is highly unlikely that Indian government allows BCCI to have a cricket series with Pakistan.
The traditional rivals have an agreement to play 6 bilateral series during the next 8 years.
The first series between India and Pakistan is scheduled in this month in Sri Lanka. The series will comprise of 3 One-Day Internationals and 2 Twenty-20 matches.
Also read: Indian government set to reject BCCI plea for Pakistan series
“The government has given us an indication that public sentiment at the moment is not in favour [of the series]. Also, there are only a few days left for the proposed series to start [in the latter half of December]. If the government wanted us to play, we would have received clearance long time ago. So, I don’t think this series is happening,” a BCCI official was quoted as saying by the Hindustan Times on Friday.
After a lot of debate and discussion, Sri Lanka emerged as a possible venue for Pakistan’s ‘home’ series but the Indian government has poured cold water over BCCI’s intentions. Even Sarbananda Sonowal, the sports minister, had thrown his weight behind BCCI’s hope to have an India-Pakistan series, saying the board needs to be supported.
“We play Pakistan in the World Cup. We played them in the 2015 World Cup, will play them next year in the Asia Cup. Then will again play them in the month of March in the World T20. So when you play them in a multinational tournament in world events, then what stops you from playing them in a bilateral series? So that’s the question we have to answer,” Anurag Thakur, the BCCI secretary, was quoted as saying.
