The much speculated India vs Pakistan limited-overs series which was expected to be held from 24th December 2015 to 5th January 2016, has been cancelled.
The two Asian Cricket giants share a historic rivalry in Cricket and the series was supposed to be an exciting occasion for the two nations. It was a tournament for which the people of both countries were waiting eagerly to happen.
The tournament was scheduled to consist three One Day Internationals and two Twenty 20 games. The two teams played against in a series back in December 2012. India lost the ODI series then and drew the T20 series and would have wanted o get a payback.
The venues for the games were only left to be announced and now it has been called off which will be heartbreaking for both the countries.
PCB chief Shahryar Khan was quoted saying by Dawn, “We were hoping for some positive development finally but it is very disappointing that cricket was not discussed in the meeting between the Indian Foreign Minister and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The prospects of organising a series now seem very bleak and we stand to lose at least $50 million under the current scenario. We have been informally told that Swaraj will talk on cricket and decide the fate of the series.”
However, Indian media reported earlier that Indian government had approved the series. Pakistan Government were also thought to be okay with series getting on the way, but the talks between BCCI and PCB did not go well.
But media reports on Friday morning informed that the series has not got the necessary approval from the Indian government. The Indian and Pakistani cricket teams were expected to play a three-match One-Day International (ODI) and two-match Twenty20 International (T20I) series in Sri Lanka, a neutral venue. The BCCI had said that it will not allow its team to play in the UAE, where Pakistan was slated to host India after they had signed a MoU last year.
Pakistan wanted to host the series this time as India held the series last term in 2012, but BCCI president Shashank Manohar made it clear that India team will not travel to UAE to play Pakistan because of the suspicious activities which may occur in the country.
PCB chairman said, “We hoped the situation would improve, but we’ve now run out of time. We will now examine our legal position.”