The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in a letter to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Thursday expressed regret over the cancellation of talks between Shaharyar Khan and Shashank Manohar.
“We have received a letter from the BCCI expressing regret over what happened in Mumbai on October 19,” PCB Media Operations Director Amjad Hussain said. In the letter, the BCCI said that they have approached the Indian government for the approval of a bilateral series between the two traditional rivals.
Shaharyar Khan, along with a three-member PCB delegation, visited India to discuss with BCCI President Shashank Manohar to take a final decision whether India was ready to play the series as per the MoU signed last year. However, members of Indian extremist party Shiv Sena party sabotaged the scheduled meeting at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, when around 40 to 50 individuals stormed the venue of the meeting prior to its start.
The Shiv Sena workers shouted anti-Pakistan slogans ahead of a meeting between PCB and BCCI officials over resumption of cricket ties. As a result, the BCCI cancelled the meeting but it failed to contact the PCB delegation to take it into confidence about the next step.
‘Hope BCCI withstands pressure’:
In his press talk, Hussain said, “PCB hopes the BCCI withstands the pressure of an extremist minority and honours the Memorandum of Understanding.”
“We are opposing Pakistanis associated with the IPL coming to India. We will talk to the organisers to drop Pakistani coaches, commentators and officials. If they do not listen then we will ruin the game in Shiv Sena style,” a party spokesman had said earlier.
The top PCB official also said that there is still hope for an India-Pakistan bilateral showdown in December.
The two countries have not played a full series against each other since 2007, though Pakistan toured India for a short series in December 2012.
Last year PCB and BCCI had signed a MoU under which they were scheduled to play six series in the 2015-2023 Future Tours Programme, but all were subject to clearance from New Delhi.
