PCB chairman Ehsan Mani critical of BCCI’s hypocrisy

Alleging  “hypocrisy” on the part of the BCCI, PCB chairman Ehsan Mani hit out at the Indian cricket board stating that they play Pakistan in international tournaments but avoid bilateral series.

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The PCB has filed a compensation of Rs 447 crore with the Dispute Resolution Committee against the BCCI for not following the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which said that both countries would play six bilateral series from 2015-2023.

“There is a lot of hypocrisy at the moment. India plays an ICC event against us but doesn’t play a bilateral series. That is something that we need to address,” ESPN Cricinfo quoted Mani as saying, who also stated that cricketing ties between both the nations should resume for the fans.

“The main thing is that we play cricket against each other. When we play cricket, especially in our countries – when we go to India or when they come here – helps in increasing people-to-people contact. Indian fans come to Pakistan. Lakhs of fans have come to Pakistan from India and everyone goes back happy. “There’s no better way to improve the relations between countries than having sporting contacts, cultural contacts. For me, that is far more important than any amount of money that comes into the game,” said Mani.

Thatthe PCB hasn’t been able to generate any revenue as they haven’t played against India, isn’t a matter of concern for Mani. Instead, terming an Indo-Pak series as being of the  “highest value financially in the world” he said that their urge for resuming bilateral cricket with India was more than money.

“Money isn’t the issue, it’s more about the game..there are more viewers for an India-Pakistan match than any other match in the world. So, if the Indian government decides to deprive its own citizens of watching an India-Pakistan match then that is their choice, “Mani added.

He also opined that the chances of a bilateral series in the future is bleak given the fact that India is slated to have the general elections in 2019.

• “Indian public obviously love to see India and Pakistan playing, and so does the Pakistan public. Rest of the work is of the politicians and frankly, once India is in the lead-up to its elections next year, so I don’t think there will be any softening in their attitude. But in the long term, the people want it and you can’t go against the will of the people forever,” he further said.