Reiterating that it was time the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) honoured the agreement signed between the two countries last year, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Executive Committee Chairman Najam Sethi on Friday rejected the idea of staging Pakistan’s ‘home series’ in the rival neighbouring country.
“We visited India in 2007 and 2012 and we did not get a single penny for it. It’s now time for the BCCI to reciprocate and honour its commitment of playing a bilateral series in UAE,” Sethi told reporters in Lahore.
On Tuesday, BCCI chief Shashank Manohar proposed a limited-over series with Pakistan, comprising five one-day and two T20 internationals, but clearly stated that the Indian team would not be travelling to Pakistan or UAE for the matches.
“We are committed to playing Pakistan in December. However, since it’s not possible to play them in Pakistan or the UAE, we have to look at playing the series in Northern India in December,” Manohar said.
Sethi said he would advise the board not to heed to the BCCI’s ‘unreasonable demand’.
“If we get a formal proposal suggesting that the series be played in India, I would categorically reject it and advise the board of governors to not accept any such offers,” Sethi, who was the chairman of the PCB when an agreement on bilateral series was signed between Pakistan and India, said.
India and Pakistan signed an agreement to play a total of six series – four hosted by Pakistan and the other two by India – on the sidelines of an International Cricket Council (ICC) annual conference in Melbourne last year. According to the deal the first series of was scheduled to be hosted by Pakistan in UAE this December but prospects look bleak after political tensions between the two countries.
Sethi had then claimed that Pakistan would earn $450 million in the next eight years, mainly from hosting four series to be played with arch-rivals India.
“According to our deal, the series was supposed to be played in UAE. Why should we play in India? Pakistan should not make the same mistake for the third time,” Sethi said while clarifying that his statement was a ‘personal opinion’.
Sethi says Pakistan should not play its home series in India
