Cricket provides a neat metaphor for the rather fragile Indo-Pak relationship -- a relation ‘ship’ with no boy on the burning deck in sight.

Is it the curse of the bloody partition with history regularly trumping geography or simply a tilted equilibrium guided by one party’s power and pelf? Whatever the grouse, it is just not cricket -- to borrow from the definitive axiom about going against the spirit of fair sport.

The irony is that cricket diplomacy is the one elusive CBM that is still considered across the divide to be the ultimate ice-breaker in the context of bilaterals. Perhaps, that explains why the party with the bigger fridge keeps it all frozen!

India and Pakistan have fought three wars after they first squared off on a cricket pitch in 1952, but each time, the separation gap has only widened. The first break-up lasted 18 years with contact resuming only in 1978 -- well after the 1965 and 1971 wars.

The second parting of ways lasted a decade from 1989 when the Kashmir insurgency began. The two met again in 1999, but it devolved into another half a decade in the wilderness with the eruption of Kargil conflict.

When diplomacy came to the fore again, India finally, toured Pakistan in 2004, after 15 years. Imagine, Sachin Tendulkar, the game’s most prolific batsman, who debuted in Pakistan as a precocious 16-year-old had by then turned into a man of the world, at 31.

The last time the two rivals sparred was in 2007. Seven years after the 2008 Mumbai attacks, better sense is still elusive even though the ground has shifted considerably in the meanwhile. A short series of ODIs and T20s did take place in India in the dead of 2013 winter, but it amounted to little more than crumbs for the guest-starring Pakistanis as the visiting English team took off on a Christmas break back home.

With the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) refusing to confirm the resumption of a bilateral series in December this year on which it had signed an MoU with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), and the latter’s inability to fight their case, fractured ties have hit a new low.

PCB Chairman Shahryar Khan is himself embittered after an embarrassing return from India recently where a scheduled meeting with his counterpart was disrupted by Shiv Sena activists in Mumbai.

"I went to India upon the invitation of BCCI Chief, Shashank Manohar. But I was surprised at the indifferent attitude shown by the Indian officials. I would say they were not very good hosts," Khan said, after spending an entire day in New Delhi waiting for the meeting to be reconvened, but not even receiving the courtesy of being intimated.

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Ramaswamy Mohan, Resident Editor of Deccan Chronicle (Chennai), and one of India’s best-known cricket writers, agrees that the series should go ahead, but that the BCCI cannot really do much about it.

"Ultimately, it is the government’s decision when it comes to cricket ties with Pakistan. But they are making a big mistake here. Pakistan is only asking that India play them at venues in the Gulf. There is no reason why India should not play Pakistan at neutral venues," he says.

Mohan remains hopeful but says Pakistan needs to be patient. "Right now, it appears Pakistan is holding a gun to BCCI’s head for a series. Why not think of putting it off for a year and playing in 2016 after things have cooled down," he suggests.

With fans at home incensed and criticism mounting at the flatfooted PCB, Shahryar Khan has warned Pakistan could consider boycotting the World T20 in India next year, if the BCCI does not keep its end of the bargain.

Even before Khan reluctantly changed tack, Pakistan’s T20 captain Shahid Afridi had questioned the appeasement policy.

"I don’t know why we are pushing for a series against India again and again. I don’t see any reason to play (against India) if they don’t want to play," he told the media in September.

Even though BCCI Secretary, Anurag Thakur, suggested last week that PCB ask the government in Islamabad to contact its counterpart in New Delhi to push things, the idea of a boycott was dismissed as counterproductive by Mohan.

"If Pakistan does not play the 2016 T20 World Cup, it will be Pakistan cricket’s loss. Financially speaking, Pakistan cannot afford to skip the T20 World Cup. It must play and not cut its nose to spite its face," he says.

But all is not quite over yet even as the boycott idea gains traction at home. Indian cricket administrator, Rajeev Shukla, appeared to hold out hope following Shahryar’s gingerly threat. "Talks regarding an Indo-Pak series have not derailed yet and we will continue any time after the (ongoing) India-South Africa series ends," he said.

Many in Pakistan, tired of India’s renegade disposition, believe the time has come to use the trump card. Will it turn out to be a full toss, or reverse swing to shake the timber will become apparent soon enough.

On the next page: “BCCI is as ignorant as the PCB,” says Arif Ali Khan Abbasi

"BCCI is as ignorant as the PCB" -- Arif Ali Khan Abbasi, ex PCB chief

The News on Sunday: What do you make of the PCB approach towards the Indo-Pak series?

Arif Ali Khan Abbasi: It’s a bit of a fiasco. They don’t seem to know the protocol of the ICC: that the Future Tours Programme is not up to the countries playing but the ICC that makes it and, therefore, they should pressure the ICC to implement it. But they are not doing that. They keep running off to India, when it is India, that is supposed to tour Pakistan. Then, they get rebuffed over there; it is all very silly.

It is a repetition of what happened at The Oval (the Test Pakistan forfeited in 2006 in controversial circumstances after Australian umpire, Darrel Hair, accused them of ball tampering) when Zaheer Abbas was the manager and Shahryar Khan was the chairman and neither of them knew it was the MCC that makes the rules, not the ICC.

TNS: Do you reckon they have the Sharif government’s backing in dealing independently with the BCCI?

AAKA: I don’t think so. But you can’t just keep going back to India. Remember, two years ago, (Indian cricket administrator) Rajeev Shukla threatened the PCB, saying it was trying to pressure them through the government and that "we would never play Pakistan anywhere in the world and we’ll see what you can do about it". When you’ve heard those things, you’re still going there. You’ve been insulted left, right, and centre and you’re still going there. I have never seen Pakistan being so insulted because of these two people (Shahryar Khan and Najam Sethi).

TNS: BCCI secretary, Anuraf Thakur, recently suggested the PCB push the government to approach its Indian counterpart. Do you think that is the option now?

AAKA: Not at all. It shows they (BCCI) are as ignorant as the PCB. The PCB keeps talking about an MoU, which is nothing (in concrete terms). It is not a binding agreement.

TNS: Should Pakistan boycott next year’s T20 World Cup in India as is being mooted as a possibility by the PCB chairman?

AAKA: It’s about time. We should say, if we are not safe, you are not safe either. And that we would also lobby other countries into thinking you are not a safe country. Look at India’s history. Their crowds have played havoc with matches and PCB doesn’t seem to point that out.

TNS: But would boycotting an ICC event not have legal implications?

AAKA: There can’t be any legal implications. Who is the renegade here? India is the renegade (by not honouring its commitments).