Pakistani cricket team denied permission to play in India

As per Najam Sethi, the chief of the PCB’s executive committee, the Pakistani government’s position is that Pakistan cannot play in India without its permission which has not been given. The government raised security and safety issues regarding playing in India.

“I don’t know why India doesn’t want to play in the UAE. It recently played IPL matches there. We are waiting for a fresh proposal from the BCCI. But our position is clear. We are not going to play in India,” Sethi said as reported by Hindustan Times.

It hasn’t been a smooth sailing between the two cricket boards sine the BCCI’s unwillingness to play in the UAE, which has been Pakistan’s home venue after the 2009 terror attack on the Sri Lankan team in Pakistan.

Talks between the two boards were called off in October after Shiv Sena workers stormed the BCCI’s Mumbai office ahead of a scheduled meeting between the two cricket chiefs. Over 100 Sena members chanted slogans against Pakistan and PCB chief Shaharyar Khan, saying they will not allow cricketing ties with the neighboring country as long as it continued to sponsor terrorists attacking India.

The PCB had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Board for Control of Cricket in India to play six bilateral series between 2015 and 2023 and claimed the Indian board agreed to play the first series in UAE in December.Sethi said, “This is Pakistan’s home series which means that choice of venue is PCB’S right and all revenues accrue to PCB just as when it is India’s home series in 2017, all revenues will accrue to BCCI and the venue will be India choice.”

The PCB has also threatened if the BCCI failed to honour its so-called commitment, the matter would be taken to the ICC which is currently chaired by BCCI chief Shashank Manohar.