India series: I haven’t lost hope, says PCB chief

KARACHI: It might seem like a lost cause but Pakistan’s cricket chief Shaharyar Khan is planning to give one last push to his campaign to save December’s bilateral series against India.
With a top government official ruling out the possibility of a bilateral series against India in December it appear as if it’s game over for the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and Shaharyar Khan.
Sartaj Aziz, the National Security Adviser, has recently remarked that he saw no chance of a revival of ties between Pakistan and India under “the current situation.”
It’s a pretty strong statement and virtually confirms that there are no chances of any back-channel diplomacy to save the series.
But ask Shaharyar and he will tell you that all’s not lost.
“Yes that’s true. Things don’t look too well,” Shaharyar told ‘The News’ when asked whether he sees any chance of the series against India taking place especially after Aziz’s pessimistic comments.
But unlike the security adviser, the PCB chairman isn’t willing to rule out anything.
“The situation is certainly bleak but I’m not entirely hopeless. There is a slim hope considering that BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur has told us that they will discuss the issue on the sidelines of the ICC meetings in Dubai,” he said.
All of Shaharyar’s hope hinge on the fact that the Indian cricket board (BCCI) has expressed its willingness to discuss the issue.
Shaharyar is now planning to meet the hawkish Thakur, the man who has time and again declared that India doesn’t want bilateral cricket ties with Pakistan, in the hope that somehow a last-minute solution will be worked out.
Or if there are no solutions, at least Pakistan will know for sure that they won’t be hosting India in December.
“We have told them (India) that we need a definitive answer about the series. We would be meeting in Dubai next week and I can say that we should know once and for all whether the series is going ahead or not by the time the ICC meetings conclude in Dubai,” Shaharyar said.
“We have signed a MoU for the series and it is the moral and legal obligation of both parties to fulfill the commitment. We are ready and hope that the Indians are willing too.”
The PCB-BCCI talks will take place in Dubai next week where the ICC Board will gather at the global body’s headquarters on 12 and 13 October for the final round of meetings of 2015.
In the lead up to these meetings, various other committee meetings, including the ICC Chief Executives’ Committee (CEC) meeting, will also take place.
On the top of the ICC Board agenda is the future structure and scheduling of bilateral cricket.
Shaharyar is also hoping that the ICC will also back PCB’s efforts to save the series which is supposed to include two Tests, five One-day Internationals and two Twenty20 games.
“It was agreed by all (bilateral matches),” he said.
India had agreed to play six Test series with Pakistan between 2015-2023 after the PCB bowed to the ICC reforms last year which handed hefty powers, and revenues, to the so-called big three — India, Australia and England. But all the series were subject to clearance from the respective governments.
While Shaharyar continues to show his never-say-die attitude, very few in the Pakistani cricket fraternity believe that PCB can make the series happen.
The general view is that the Indians hold all the cards and the only thing PCB can do is to keep requesting them.
Shaharyar has hinted at the possibility of Pakistan boycotting India at ICC events or asking for compensation but it’s highly unlikely that the PCB will decide to act upon such threats considering that it could cause more harm than good to the cause of Pakistan cricket.