Pakistani cricket officials have announced that they need their government’s permission before going ahead and finalising the details of their “home” series against India. “#NoCricketWithPakistan” was the top Twitter trend on Thursday evening.
BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur said on Wednesday that the board had made a formal request to the ministry of external affairs (MEA) on Tuesday, seeking clearance to play Pakistan.
The plan is that Pakistan would explore India in 2017 for a full series, while before that India will play us in 2 stages.
Pakistan have been playing their home series in the United Arab Emirates because of security fears at home, but India was unwilling to send its team to the UAE. Giles Clarke is also the head of the International Cricket Council taskforce on Pakistan and has always been in favour of a series between the sub-continental giants. Indian Premier League chairman Rajeev Shukla said the two countries had reached a consensus on the resumption of cricket ties. But Sharif has given permission for either T20, ODI or Test series with India in Sri Lanka, keeping in view the security situation.
Revealing that the choice of the venue is between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, Khan dismissed the rumours that England has also put forward a proposal to host the series.
Sri Lanka has emerged as the neutral venue for the planned series which is likely to have three ODIs and two T20s, tentatively scheduled between December 15 and first week of January. “It’s unfortunate that series between Pakistan and India are so few and far between”, Boycott added.
The two cricket boards have expressed consent for the series, however the final approval lied with the two respective governments. It will not, unfortunately for UAE fans, be played here, as was the agreement between the two sides when they signed an MoU in May 2014.