The hottest rivalry in international cricket is perhaps the
clash between India and Pakistan. Unfortunately, however, due to the political
unrest between the two nations, the cricket has suffered.
Indeed, the biggest victim of the Indo-Pak crisis has been
cricket. The last time these two played in a bilateral series was in 2013.
However, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, Najam Sethi, spoke to The News
PK and affirmed that a bilateral series between the two nations is “inevitable.”
Sethi accused right-wing Indian political party Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) of making BCCI the hostage of its politics.
“The BCCI is hostage to the politics of the Pakistan-hating
BJP,” said Sethi.
“But we are all familiar with the ups and downs in
India-Pakistan relations. India is playing Pakistan in ICC tournaments.
“India will inevitably play bilaterally with Pakistan again
because that is in the interests of both PCB and BCCI,” he said.
The Pakistan Cricket Board and the Board of Cricket Control in
India signed a MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) that obliges the two nations
to play six series between 2014 and 2023. However, due to the stand from the
Indian government of not allowing the Men in Blue to face Pakistan even on
neutral stadiums, BCCI are yet to play a single series with Pakistan.
As a result, the PCB are seeking a $70 million compensation from the BCCI. And according to some, this has resulted in Pakistan being toppled out of the big league. However, Sethi doesn’t agree to it.
“Not at all,” stressed Sethi.
“Pakistan is currently head of the Asian Cricket Council that includes India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan — five out of ten top ICC full members.”
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