India vs Pakistan: Don’t like members fighting with each other, says ICC

Courtesy: Reuters

New Delhi: Referring to the ongoing dispute between India and Pakistan, the CEO of International Cricket Council (ICC) David Richardson has said that the sport's world governing body doesn't want members nations fighting with each other. He made this remark on the on the sidelines of the second T20I of the Independence Cup between Pakistan and World XI in Lahore on Wednesday.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has regularly claimed that that the Board of Crontrol for Cricket in India (BCCI) has not fulfilled the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on bilateral tours.

The two boards had signed an MoU in 2014 to play six bilateral series between 2015 and 2023. As per the MoU, India and Pakistan were to play six bilateral series between this period, with four of them to be played in Pakistan. It comprises of 14 Tests, 30 ODIs and 12 T20Is.

But the MoU came with a caveat, that of subject to government clearance. And as seen in recent past, the Indian government denied the BCCI go-ahead due to strained relations after the Mumbai attacks in 2008.

“I understand that at the moment diplomatic relations between the two are not as rosy. For now anyway it seems the BCCI, without the positive affirmation from their government, don’t believe it is the time to play against Pakistan.

“I know the PCB has been talking to the BCCI for a number of years to arrange tours with India, in Pakistan or neutral venues. The PCB have filed a complaint under the ICC dispute resolution process which is a mechanism we have to deal with any disputes between member countries. That process is a work in progress. At the moment ICC’s role in this is to facilitate in any dispute — we don’t like our members fighting with each other, being in dispute. We have a process to deal with it and we need to let it take its course,” Richardson said.

Meanwhile, the PCB has reportedly started considering options if the problem is not resolved by the ICC.

“This process which is under the aegis of the ICC has now reached its final point. We’ve had our last meetings with India and the last one was under the chairmanship of (Shashank) Manohar. That process is over and the next stage will begin. We are in active consultation with our lawyers and we are recording our statements with our lawyers,” PCB chairman Najam Sethi was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.

Further, threatening withe a two month ultimatum, Sethi said the PCB intend to see a logical outcome.

“Within a month or two months at most, we will go back to the ICC — we have in fact already written a letter asking for the nomination of a three-member board that will look at all the issue. We have nominated one member already. This process is active and we intend to pursue it to its logical outcome,” he added.