India-Pak bilateral series at neutral venue unlikely this year

Zaka Ashraf

While the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is gung-ho about having a bilateral series with arch-rivals India, sources in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have hinted that no series can be planned with the neigbouring country this year.


Zaka Ashraf

"This year looks impossible as the schedule of the Indian team is quite hectic. We have the Indian Premier League. We also have the World T20 and a full series in England. So, scheduling a series with Pakistan would be difficult. Even if we manage to have it, it would not be a full series," a source told MiD DAY yesterday.

BCCI president N Srinivasan, who resumed duties after his mother passed away recently, met all the office bearers yesterday at the BCCI headquarters. Srinivasan refused to comment on PCB chief Zaka Ashraf's statement that the BCCI boss has agreed and assured them to hold bilateral series with Pakistan at neutral venues.

Earlier in the day, Ashraf was quoted as saying: "Mr Srinivasan has reassured me they are serious about playing a bilateral series with us even at neutral venues of our choice, but eventually we will need some written assurances and firm guarantees that this series will happen," Ashraf said in Karachi.

The BCCI in its last Working Committee meeting had said that they would be free to hold bilateral series with other boards including Pakistan.