Dubai: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shahryar Khan and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Shashank Manohar held a two-hour meeting on the possibility of staging an India-Pakistan series. Though it was reported that the two cricket chiefs may not meet with India insisting on playing the series only at home, a meeting was finally held at the intervention of the England and Wales Cricket Board president Giles Clarke.
Najam Sethi, who heads the PCB executive committee, was also present.
Khan looked cheerful after emerging from the meeting. “We had a fruitful meeting in which Sethi was there, Clarke was there as facilitator, it was a fruitful meeting and the decision is that Clarke will brief the media tomorrow,” he said.
When quizzed again, Khan said: “We have also decided that there will be no further briefing. I am not in a position to say more than this.”
Earlier, Manohar told the local media that India had not received a reply from the PCB on a proposal to play the matches in India. “We want to play in India. That is the thing,” Manohar said.
Pakistan and India were scheduled to play two Tests, five one day matches and two Twenty20 matches in the UAE next month but Manohar had categorically stated that India would not play in the UAE for certain reasons.
Manohar’s suggestion of Pakistan playing the series in India was turned down by Khan, who has emphatically stated that his team will not play in India.
Khan, who arrived on Thursday, addressed the media at the Dubai Cricket stadium. “I do not know why India cannot play in the UAE when England, Australia and all other countries have agreed to play here. In fact, India even hosted their Indian Premier League matches here and so India’s objection is not understandable,” Khan said.
There is speculation that another neutral venue in Sri Lanka or Bangladesh could also be considered if India continues with its adamant stance of not playing the series in the UAE.
India and Pakistan had signed a Memorandum of Understanding to play a total of six series between 2015 and 2023, of which four were to be hosted by Pakistan and the other two by India. The MOU was signed on the sidelines of an International Cricket Council (ICC) annual conference in Melbourne last year. According to the deal, the first series was scheduled to be hosted by Pakistan in the UAE this December.
