Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Najam Sethi has urged for the resumption of cricket ties with India for the sake of the fans from both countries.
The PCB supremo is currently in Kolkata to attend an ICC meeting and has laid the ball once again in the BCCI’s court when speaking about the possibility of the future bilateral tours.
“Firstly, the two sides need to play each other for the sake of the people of the sub-continent. Secondly, the ball is in the BCCI’s court. That’s it. We hope sooner than later better sense will prevail and the two sides can get back to playing good cricket again,” Sethi was quoted as saying the PTI (Press Trust of India).
“My sense is that all this is a melting pot and at some stage or the other, we will have to have a good resolution,” he added.
Cricketing ties between the two neighbouring countries has been restricted to multi-team competitions with the Indian government not in favour of holding any bilateral series between the teams.
Sethi (L) has put the ball in the BCCI’s court.
The Pakistan cricketing body had recently demanded a compensation of $70 million from the BCCI for its inability to honour the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the two boards in 2014 which called for the holding of six bilateral series between 2015 and 2023.
An ICC appointed three-member tribunal is expected to hear the matter in October.
This is the first time in two years that a PCB official has visited India. Sethi also urged the Indian media to push for the resumption of cricketing ties between the two arch-rivals.
“I’m just surprised that there’s not sufficient media pressure here in India for resumption of cricketing ties between India and Pakistan. I am sure the people of the two countries want to see cricket between the two countries. There’s a lot of goodwill on both sides so let’s hope that the issue can be resolved in the interest of the fans. There’s no rough weather between the two Boards. There’s no problem at all,” he said.
The five-day ICC meeting got underway on Sunday and matters related to player behavior and cheating along with the extension of ICC chairman Sashank Manohar’s tenure are expected to be discussed in the meeting.
