International Cricket Council (ICC) chief executive Dave Richardson has said the governing body of world cricket wants India and Pakistan to resume cricketing ties, but can’t compel them as it is the bilateral issue which will be solved by two concerning boards.
“We realise just how important it is for world cricket to have regular matches between Pakistan and India but unfortunately the ICC cannot interfere in this matter as it is a bilateral matter purely between two boards,” The Dawn reported.
The ICC chief also said that even though they know that a match between both countries’ team generates a phenomenal response from spectators, they are only responsible for posting match officials as the new governance system allows bilateral tours to be decided by individual boards
His statement came just after Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Shahryar Khan said that if India doesn’t play Pakistan then they will host some other country that will be decided in two months of time.
India stopped playing Pakistan since 26/11 terrorist attack in 2008. But, late in 2012 India hosted Pakistan for a two match T20 and three match ODI series. However, India never paid a visit in Pakistan following a terrorist attack on Sri Lankan team bus, and BCCI is in no mood to send the team in Pakistan until they get positive message from the Indian government.
This year PCB is due to host India in UAE in December this year as part of six series Memorandum of Understanding signed between the two Boards last year. But BCCI yet to be convinced. In this regard Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Shahryar Khan has recently said they have “plan B” if India decide not to play them.
“We have a plan B in case the series (against India) cannot be held but I can’t share the details of that now. If such a situation is created we can call alternative teams,” he said. Reliable sources in the PCB confirmed that the Board was in talks with two other cricket playing nations to prepare a contingency plan.