Why Do India Play Pakistan In ICC Tournaments? Questions PCB Chairman Ehsan Mani

Once again the Indo-Pak cricketing ties make it to the headlines in the cricketing world. The latest Chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Ehsan Mani is pretty vocal on the ties between the arch-rivals. He wants the supreme board ICC to sort out the things in order to arrange a bilateral series between India and Pakistan.

Recently, the legal issues have taken place between both the boards regarding the MoU certificate. Pakistan demanded compensation while the Indian board cited the problem of the government in India, who are yet to give the green signal.

My intention is not to beg for cricket – Ehsan Mani

Ehsan Mani has always raised his voice on the bilateral series between the arch-rivals even when he was not in the chairman position. He also added that he wouldn’t have filed a case against India if he was assigned the job earlier.

Further, he quoted saying that his intention was not to beg for the game against India but wants to deal with everyone in equal terms. Ehsan Mani agrees to the political reason given by the board but he feels that they need to find a new route.

“I have already talked about it, though informally, at the ICC level. But now I am in the PCB and I will raise it more effectively than the ICC should ensure the bilateral series among all the countries. Look, if there is no bilateral cricket series between India and Pakistan, why do they play us in the ICC tournaments?” he asked via The Dawn.

Had I been at the helm at the time of filing the case, I would have preferred to resolve the matter through negotiation. My intention is not to beg for cricket but to talk with anyone on equal term. Then we will talk and if we fail we will again raise our voice in the ICC since its constitution has the clauses against government interference, but there have to be discussion over the nature of the interference,” he added.

However, it would be interesting to see how things would pan out regarding the bilateral series between both the countries. Most Probably, it will take quite a time to resolve the matter between the boards.