PCB urge Indian cricket officials to separate sport and politics

Shahid Hashmi 08:05 03/09/2015
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Mail
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • WhatsApp
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Possible encounter: India vs. Pakistan.

    Pakistan’s cricket chief wrote a letter to the Indian cricket board secretary pressing him for an update on a proposed series between the arch rivals in December this year.

    A two-Test, five one-day and one Twenty20 series in the United Arab Emirates is shrouded in uncertainty with volatile relations between the South Asian nuclear rivals at one of their lowest ebbs.

    — Ashar Jawad (@AsharJawad) September 2, 2015

    Tensions at the international border dividing the countries has escalated barely a week after talks between the countries’ national security advisers were called off.

    The two countries have not played a full series against each other since 2007, though Pakistan toured India for a short series in December 2012.

    Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shaharyar Khan he had written to Anurag Thakur, secretary of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

    – REPORT: India win first series in Sri Lanka since 1993
    – UAE: U19 struggles continue with dismal defeat
    – #360cricket: India must back Pujara after heroics
    – GALLERY: Kumar Sangakkara’s career in pictures

    “I have written a letter to Mr Thakur, in the main saying that cricket and politics should be kept apart,” Khan said. “I am positive that the BCCI shall be able to convince the Indian government that it ought to honour its MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with the PCB,” he added.

    Last year, PCB and BCCI had signed a MoU under which they were scheduled to play six series in the 2015-2023 Future Tours Programme, but all were subject to clearance from New Delhi.

    Thakur has previously said that the countries’ cricket teams should not meet while relations remain fraught, saying cricket cannot be played with bullets. But last week Thakur softened his stance, telling a private television channel in Pakistan that a series was possible.

    “If situation improves, I cannot rule out cricket series in December,” Thakur said. “I toured Pakistan in 2004 and was overwhelmed, and when Pakistan toured India the following year I distributed sweets on their captain’s (Inzamam-ulHaq) birthday.”

    Recommended