Daily Times

KARACHI: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) will take up the issue of India’s scheduled bilateral series with Pakistan in November-December during the International Cricket Council meeting in April. PCB chief Shaharyar Khan said that the board had completed its homework on the legal options available to press a case against the Indian board for its refusal to play Pakistan in a full bilateral series since 2007 resulting in losses of millions of dollars to Pakistan cricket. “Our legal preparations are complete but first we will take up the issue of the scheduled series with India in November-December this year at the ICC meeting next month,” said Shaharyar, a former career diplomat. “We want to first talk with the new representatives of Indian cricket board in the ICC meeting and ask them about the status of the scheduled series under the MOU signed between both boards in 2014,” he said.

The PCB aware of the existing relations between the two countries has already talked about inviting Bangladesh or Sri Lanka in the same window that India is supposed to play the bilateral series this winter. Shaharyar said that since 2007 and after the MOU was signed, Pakistan cricket had suffered huge losses because India had not even agreed to give Pakistan a chance to host its due series at a neutral venue. “We have lost at least two home series against India and that calculates to millions of dollars in revenues for us.” He said that once the ICC meeting was held and Pakistan took up the November-December series it would then decide on its future course of action. “We have not ruled out legal processes to be compensated for our huge losses caused by the refusal of India to play us,” he said. The PCB chief also admitted that the Federation of International Cricketers Association was a big hurdle in the way of international cricket returning to Pakistan. “We held the final of the Pakistan Super League successfully in Lahore but even now Test playing boards are not receptive to sending their teams to Pakistan because of security concerns,” he admitted. He said this included the Bangladesh Cricket Board whom Pakistan had now requested to at least play two T20 matches in Lahore. Pakistan are due to play a series in Bangladesh in July-August this year and it has asked the BCB to play two of the T20 matches in Lahore. Shaharyar said that talks were also on for a World eleven to tour Pakistan later this year.