New Delhi: Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman Rajiv Shukla said on Saturday that there is very little chance that the proposed bilateral series between India and Pakistan will see the light of day.
“There are certain requirements, safety being the top priority, that first need to be met in order for the series to take place at all. Indo-Pak series still a distant dream,” Shukla said at an event here.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had signed a Memorandum of Understanding last year, agreeing to play six bilateral series from 2015 to 2023.
According to the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) provisional Future Tour Programme (FTP), the two countries are scheduled to play a total of 12 Tests, 30 one-dayers and 11 Twenty20s over the six series.
The first of these were originally scheduled to start in December with Pakistan hosting India for two Tests, five one-dayers and two Twenty20s in the UAE. But the series has been thrown into uncertainty due to diplomatic tension between the two countries triggered by chronic violence on the border.
BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur had stated last month that there should be no sporting ties between the two nations as along as Pakistan continued to “shelter wanted underworld don Dawoud Ebrahim”.
On Friday, PCB chairman Shahryar Khan threatened to boycott India at all international events if the BCCI officially refused to play the proposed series.
India and Pakistan have not played against each other since 2007, the last time the two countries played a proper bilateral Test series.
Pakistan toured India in late 2012 for a short one-day series, and apart from that tour, the two countries have only played against each other in International Cricket Council (ICC) or Asian Cricket Council (ACC) events.
