Last year, under Najam Sethi, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had signed a Memorandum of Understanding 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.
In February this year, the BCCI informed the PCB that it required fresh permission from the newly elected Indian government on the MoU. Despite PCB chief Shaharyar Khan asking his Indian counterparts to take their government’s word on the agreement, the Indian board seems to be deliberately prolonging the issue.
Anurag Thakur – BJP’s Member of Parliament and Secretary of the BCCI – always manages to find one way or another to be in the news. When he is not making attempts at blaming the Gurdaspur attack on Pakistan, he is making statements of this sort:
See: Don’t hold your breath, India and Pakistan are not playing anytime soon
As a result of which, unfortunately, the public in Pakistan, too, is now beginning to question whether a series with India is really that crucial; even as the PCB keeps reiterating its efforts to make such a series possible.
That is truly unfortunate, because – no matter how harsh it may sound to my friends in India – Pakistan has always played a better role in differentiating between sports and politics.
Remember the 1999 tour?
Shiv Sena – which holds sway in the Indian state of Mahrashtra – was against Pakistan’s visit and all that they did to disrupt the tour remains no secret.
For more detail Sport over politics: India shouldn’t forget Pakistan’s 1999 tour
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