Najam Sethi responsible for PCB's financial loss: Shaharyar Khan

Pakistan and India have not played a full-fledged bilateral series since the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai.

Former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shaharyar Khan has held his successor Najam Sethi responsible for the huge financial losses incurred by the board after the International Cricket Council's (ICC) Disputes Resolution Committee rejected PCB's compensation claim against the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

"I was always in favour of continuing negotiations and talks with the Indian board officials and also spoke to ICC bigwigs. It was Sethi who wanted too and eventually got approval to file the claim with the ICC committee when he was heading the board," Khan said in an interview.

"The financial losses the board has now suffered, Najam Sethi is responsible for it," he added.

Khan was succeeded by Najam Sethi as the PCB chief in August last year.

On Wednesday, the ICC's Dispute Resolution Panel had ordered Pakistan to pay around USD 1.2 million to the BCCI after the world cricket governing body rejected the PCB's compensation claim which blamed India for lack of bilateral series between the two nations.

Sethi came under fire for pursuing the failed compensation case and on Thursday, he made several tweets absolving himself of any blame and saying it was the Board Of Governors who gave approval for going ahead and claiming compensation officially through the ICC committee.

Khan, however, made it clear that it was Sethi who persuaded and convinced the Board of Governors members to approve budget for the legal expenses and to file the case with the ICC.

"Even at that time I told him that our case didn't have much legal strength or basis and we would only suffer more financial losses, but he insisted on going ahead with it," he said.

"In May, 2017 when I was Chairman we sent a notice of dispute to the BCCI asking them to have talks over this matter. I held talks with the ICC Chairman, Shashank Manohar and senior BCCI officials who appeared keen to resolve the matter amicably and we agreed to continue these talks.

"Don't forget the matter was sent through lawyers to the ICC Dispute Resolution Committee in Sethi's tenure as Chairman not mine," Khan added.

Khan further expressed disappointment that the PCB had suffered huge financial losses due to India not playing bilateral cricket with them. 

"Now we have also bear these heavy costs of the case and directly hold Najam Sethi responsible for this," he said.

Earlier, the PCB had filed a complaint against the BCCI for not engaging in a bilateral series despite a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the two arch-rivals to play six series between 2015 and 2023. 

The two sides have not played a full-fledged bilateral series since the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai. However, India and Pakistan have met several times in the ICC events, with the most recent coming at the 2018 Asia Cup.