Indian offers Pakistani counterpart bilateral series at home

Reuters:  Indian cricket board said on Saturday (14 November) they are ready to resume cricket ties with Pakistan only if the neighbouring country agrees to play the bilateral series in India.

Secretary of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Anurag Thakur, said it is not possible for them to play in Pakistan.

“Pakistan and India series is overdue. As per FTP programme it was supposed to happen in the month of December. Yes, BCCI has spoken to PCB, wanted to know if India hosts, whether they agree for that or not. If PCB agrees then we can talk to the Indian government and can know their viewpoint on this,” said Thakur in New Delhi.

According to Future Tours Programme, India and Pakistan were to play against each other in December in United Arab Emirates.

Earlier in the day, media reports said Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman, Shahryar Khan, claimed that BCCI spoke to PCB about the series and said the discussion would be taken forward with the government only after Pakistan agrees to India hosting the series.

India cancelled bilateral cricket series with its neighbour after Pakistani militants killed 166 people in Mumbai in 2008 but hosted Pakistan in 2012-13 for a short limited over series.

The India-Pakistan cricket rivalry is one of the most intense sports rivalries in the world anticipated by the fans of both the countries.

Any match between the two nations attracts millions of viewers and reportedly the count goes up to one billion according to TV ratings.

Last year, India and Pakistan signed a Memorandum of Understanding under which they were due to play six series during 2015-2023, conditional to the Indian government’s clearance.

Last month, Khan - during his visit to India - was due to meet BCCI president Shashank Manohar but the meeting was cancelled after Hindu radical outfit Shiv Sena activists stormed the Mumbai office to protest against the dialogue.

In the wake of incident, Pakistan’s blind cricket team also refused to participate in the Asia Cricket Cup 2016 for the Blind, scheduled for January 2016 in India’s southern city of Kochi.

Pakistan have not hosted international cricket since the 2009 attack on the visiting Sri Lankan team which forced them to play home matches in the UAE.