A decision to whether the India-Pakistan series goes ahead in December could be made in October, according to BCCI’s vice-president TC Mathew.
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Mathew, who was in Dubai on Friday at the opening of the Kricket’s Spearo Academy told Sport360: “Look it’s only September and the series is scheduled in December so maybe in October they could make a call.”
While the former India team manager feels the UAE is a perfect venue for the series, he insists politics should not interfere in sports.
“Personally speaking, I’m against bringing politics into sports and we have to treat sports separately from politics. The India-Pakistan cricket ties is always a welcome move and the people of India and Pakistan want to see their national teams play against each other.
“As a cricket fan, I’d love to watch India-Pakistan series and the UAE is an ideal venue because a lot of Indian and Pakistanis live in this country.”
He added: “We are waiting to get permission from the Indian government but only BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur and president Jagmohan Dalmiya are involved in the discussions.”
Mathew is also the president of the Kerala Cricket Association and among the issues on his agenda is convincing the BCCI to lift the ban on S Sreesanth to play.
The former Indian bowler was one of three to be acquitted in July by Delhi police in the 2013 IPL corruption scandal but the BCCI’s lifeban is still imposed.
“I will raise the issue in the next BCCI meeting but from what I understand is that the BCCI are not going to change their decision. We will keep proceeding on the matter,” he said.
And he insists the 32-year-old, who was part of the 2007 and 2011 World Cup winning squads will make no attempts to urge the BCCI to overturn the ban.
He added: “If he makes a big hue and cry it won’t get any favourable decision. Let him wait for a decision to come from the BCCI. He’s our boy and we, the Kerala Cricket Association want him back in cricket.”
