Shaharyar Khan, the chairman of the PCB, has said he will attempt to use his good relations with the BCCI to aid the resumption of bilateral ties with India at the earliest.
Shaharyar, a career diplomat who was posted as Pakistan’s high commissioner in Delhi and also was foreign secretary, said he had always enjoyed good relations with the top officials of the BCCI. “Whether it is Jagmohan Dalmiya, the late Raj Singh Dungarpur or Srinivasan, I have good relations with them and I will soon talk to them about Indo-Pak cricket relations,” he said.
Shaharyar said he was keen to talk to the BCCI about Pakistan players’ participation in the IPL as well. “We have been caught up in [the internal] affairs of the Pakistan team, but I intend to talk to the BCCI soon about the Champions League and the participation of our players in the IPL and restoration of bilateral ties,” he said.
He said that no matter what the relations were between the two countries at the diplomatic and political level, relations between the two boards had always been good.
Talking about Pakistan cricket, Shaharyar said while he personally didn’t agree with the concept of having a 10-member support staff with the team – as it did in Sri Lanka, where it lost both the Tests and the ODIs – it was a decision taken by his predecessor, Najam Sethi.
“I have my personal opinion and I believe it is not right to change a decision so quickly, but I will be discussing this aspect with the team manager, Moin Khan, and also had a talk with head coach, Waqar Younis about it. Maybe on the next tour we might have changes.”
Shaharyar also said that the board was considering not allowing its employees to hold dual roles, but made it clear that as far as Moin’s role as manager and chief selector was concerned, no decision would be taken in haste.
He also said he didn’t believe that pressing the panic button on the basis of one bad series. “I know everyone is disappointed with the team’s performances in Sri Lanka and some of the criticism is justified, but we have to be sensible and remember that just a few months remain before the World Cup.”
Shaharyar said he was applying this same rule to the captaincy of Misbah-ul-Haq also. “We can’t remove him on basis of one series and we have to wait and see what happens in the coming matches. Decisions should only be taken with a cool and logical mind.”
