The Board of Cricket Control of India (BCCI) has turned down the England and Wales Cricket Board’s informal proposal of hosting India vs Pakistan test series in England.
Sources close to BCCI said the chances of Indo-Pak bilateral series in the near future are “next to nil”.
“Firstly, ECB spoke to PCB about an Indo-Pak series and that’s a bit weird. In any case, a series against Pakistan is not something that the BCCI will decide but it is the decision of the government. As of now, the stance remains the same. We only play Pakistan at multi-team events,” a senior BCCI official privy to India’s position told PTI on Tuesday.
Barring multi-team tournaments, India and Pakistan have not played against each other in bilateral series in any format since January 2013, and their last Test match was played in December 2007.
Earlier today, Martin Darlow, the ECB’s deputy chair, floated the idea of hosting India vs Pakistan test series in England to PCB chair Ramiz Raja during his visit to Pakistan for England’s ongoing T20 international series. Analysts view it as an attempt by the ECB to mend ties with PCB after England’s last-minute withdrawal from a scheduled two-match series in Pakistan last year.
The UK daily Telegraph stated the precise reason why the ECB made the offer. “The matches would attract big crowds in the UK, which has a large ex-pat south Asian population,” it said. “The matches attract huge sponsorship revenue and television audiences.”
Pakistan Cricket Board and former Pakistani players have long held an olive branch and expressed their desire to organise a bilateral series between India and Pakistan. However, BCCI is not keen on having a cricketing relationship with PCB owing to the stance of the Indian government toward Pakistan, holding Islamabad responsible for providing safe havens to India-centric terrorists.
