The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has officially invited Pakistan to play its ‘home’ series in India in December, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shahryar Khan said on Saturday.Shahryar told the media in Lahore that he was given a formal proposal by his Indian counterpart Shashank Manohar during a phone call on Friday.”Shashank Manohar called me up on Friday evening and told me they have got clearance from their government to play against us. But he said they wanted to play the series in India and not in the UAE,” Shahryar said. “Manohar also said that the Indian board would provide the best security to our team and schedule the matches in places like Mohali and Kolkata where there is no problem in playing a Indo-Pak match.” In his reaction, the BCCP chief made it clear that Pakistan would like to play the series in December in UAE as per the MoU signed with the BCCI. The question is that if the BCCI is offering to play in India, why it cannot play in the UAE, if it hasreservations over security to play in Pakistan. Big Three deal was signed by Pakistan after the BCCI promised that it wouldrenew cricketing ties with Pakistan and the two boards signed MoUs in this regard. The dilly-dallying by the BCCI is at the behest of Indian government which is trying to pressurise Pakistan on every count. People of public opinion in both the countries are in favour of restoration of sports ties, as that would help a congenial atmosphere for improvement in relations. If India is continuing its trade links with Pakistan where the balance of trade is in New Delhi’s favour, why the government is hampering in restoration of cricketing ties. Therefore we would stress that Pakistan should stick to its demand and if India does not agree to playing in UAE, the matter should be taken to the ICC or any other appropriate forum and the BCCI should be made to pay the losses that Pakistan would suffer for cancelling the agreed series.
pk.shafaqna.com
