Former ICC president Ehsan Mani feels BCCI has the upper-hand in case against PCB

The cricket boards of Pakistan and India have been at loggerheads for a long time now, owing to the political relationship between the two countries. To settle the dust, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by the two parties. According to the terms and conditions of the MoU, Team India was to play six series with Pakistan between 2015 to 2023, four of which will be hosted by the green shirts.

After observing India’s unwillingness to come to Pakistan, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) even offered a neutral venue to be chosen as the home ground of the team. But BCCI was firm in their resilience and refused every single offer they received from their Pakistani counterparts, citing lack of government clearance. Fuming in rage, PCB handed them a notice and asked them to pay a hefty fine for breaching the terms of MoU.

After not getting any response from BCCI, Shahryar Khan and his men decided to take legal action against the BCCI. In the last meeting of Board of Governors (BoG), it was decided that Rs 1.5 billion will be reserved and highly qualified lawyers from England will be hired to fight for PCB’s cause. However, former ICC president Ehsan Mani feels that PCB’s case against BCCI is very weak and it may result in nothing but a complete waste of time, money and energy.

““[Najam] Sethi made a big mistake by signing the agreement with the Indian board. He should show the agreement to everyone. Let’s see if it contains the clause of compensation. All I can say is, as told by my sources in the ICC, PCB’s case is weak against BCCI. The chances of BCCI paying compensation to the PCB are meek. It will be a waste of money,” said Mani, as quoted by The Express Tribune.

“Also, fighting doesn’t resolve any issue. PCB should find a middle way. BCCI enjoys a lot of control in international cricket, they will eventually bring every country on their side and Pakistan will be left alone. India have always rued government’s disapproval of a series, but cricket never stopped between the two countries. So if they come up with the right strategy, the problem can be solved,” he further added.

Pakistani cricket is being isolated

Mani feels that Pakistani cricket is not being provided with the chance to speak in the big stages of ICC. He feels that unlike the old days, the officials representing PCB in ICC doesn’t understand the working of the system now.

“Pakistan cricket is facing international isolation. Things were different in the past; we used to have our say in the ICC. Pakistan had representation in the all ICC committees, but now we have lost our voice in the council. We don’t have any referee in the ICC panel; meanwhile, Aleem Dar is the only umpire in the ICC elite umpire’s list. No one is there to help our umpires and referees get enlisted in the ICC panels because the higher officials don’t understand the system,” said the disappointed former president.

“Nearly 20-25 people managed the PCB in the past but now they have a workforce of several hundred. The officials spend a lot of money; PCB should publish their account details on the website. They should tell the people how much money the officials have spent,” he concluded.