BCCI Undecided On Availability Of India Players For Pakistan Vs World XI

The Story:

The Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) acting president Amitabh Choudhary has said that Indian players’s participation in the proposed ICC World XI vs Pakistan in Lahore later this year is subject to clearance from the government. He also said that the Indian players would not play in Pakistan if the matches clash with any series.

“Actually, we should wait till the selection of the World XI. If the matches were scheduled alongside any of our series, naturally our players can’t participate,” BCCI’s acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary said after the Special General Meeting (SGM) earlier this week.

“On the 29th of last month, we had a meeting (with PCB officials) which had become necessary as a result of a letter written by us, the BCCI, in April, 2014. We again met them in the presence of the ICC and both times our stand was simple… That both nations can play only after we get the permission from the government,” said Choudhary.

The Background:

In an attempt to resume international cricket in Pakistan, the International Cricket Council (ICC), last week, had announced its plans of sending a World XI side to the country for a three-match T20 series. Barring Zimbabwe a couple of years ago,no top Test has visited Pakistan since 2009 when there was an attack on the Sri Lanka cricket team bus in Lahore.

“Plans for a World XI to play in Pakistan later this year continue to be developed as the ICC Board confirmed its support of Pakistan’s efforts to bring international cricket back to Pakistan,” ICC had said in a statement.

“In light of this the Board agreed to support the staging of a Pakistan v World XI event in Lahore later this year, a three-game series of T20 games that will be accorded international status,” it had added.

Chances of resumption of bilateral ties is bleak

Any chances of seeing India and Pakistan resuming the bilateral ties are looking next to impossible as of now. The BCCI officials had met their Pakistani counterparts in May to discuss the bilateral ties after the latter had accused the Indian board of not honouring the Memorandum of Understanding but nothing concrete came out. In fact, the BCCI officials were  slammed by Sports Minister Vijay Goel who had made it clear that the bilateral cricketing ties between the two countries would resume only after the government gives the green light.

Both the countries  have not played a full bilateral Test series since 2007 when Pakistan had visited India for three Tests and five One-Day Internationals. They played a short series of three ODIs and two T20s in India in December 2012 but otherwise, both have faced each other only in the ICC organised events or in the Asia Cup.