PCB is willing to send team to India, reveals chairman Shaharyar Khan

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shaharyar Khan revealed that his board is ready to send the Pakistan national team to India, even though Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has no intentions of it. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the two boards which mentioned that India and Pakistan will play as many as six bilateral series between 2015 to 2023.

Pakistan always were ready to play against their neighbours, but India had no intentions to do so. The international relationship between the two countries is not very cordial at the moment. As a reason for not abiding by the terms and conditions of the MoU, BCCI cited “lack of government clearance”. PCB was left bewildered at this decision.

Pakistan’s demand

On 5th of May, they sent a notice to the BCCI, asking for a compensation of Rs. 447 crores. They gave a 7-day deadline to the BCCI to send a reply. But the Indian board has paid to heed to it whatsoever. At this Shaharyar Khan said that “The PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) would be willing to even send the team to play in India but unfortunately the situation is that the BCCI is not even ready to play with us in their own country citing security threats. We would be willing to play in India despite security threats.”

At a media conference in Karachi, he also revealed that Pakistan may visit Bangladesh between July to August. Khan confirmed that the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) chairman had sent PCB a tentative itinerary for the tour. We have not seen a full-fledged bilateral series between the two arch-rivals since the Mumbai terror attacks in 2008. Pakistan sent their team to India for a short tour in 2012-13, hoping the same from their counterparts. But citing security threats, BCCI have not done that.

In the event, he said that even ICC wants the series to happen. The 83-year-old chairman told to the media, “A series between Pakistan and India generates the most revenue, even the ICC accepts that.” Regarding the series against Bangladesh which is scheduled to be held in the month of July this year, he said, “We will sit down and look into it but we have said that we have been to Bangladesh twice or thrice now in last few years and they have not come to play with us since 2008.”

Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan, the two Pakistani legends, are playing their last international series against the West Indies. Shaharyar Khan is expected to meet the team in Birmingham. “I will be speaking to them when I go to Birmingham for the Champions Trophy and I will first ask them for their consent to the proposals we have for them,” he said.