With discouraging news from India, PCB plans T20 tournament as back-up plan

PCB is planning the Pentangular T20 Cup, in case the proposed India-Pakistan series fails to take off.

New Delhi: Even as the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) continues to fret over the continues delay from their Indian counterparts on the proposed bilateral series, in a seemingly prudent step, it has reportedly made a back-up plan.

A report in ESPNcricinfo claimed that, PCB has already made a plan B of holding a domestic T20 tournament, Pentangular T20 Cup, in case the proposed India-Pakistan series fails to take off.

"We are concerned and given the short time we have to have a back-up plan," a senior PCB board official told ESPNcricinfo. "We were expecting them [BCCI] to respond by this week, but unfortunately news coming from India is extremely discouraging. We, in the meantime, are planning a five-team T20 tournament for next month in case BCCI pulls out of their commitment."

According to the Future Tours Programme, a series of two Tests, three ODI and two T20 was originally scheduled between India and Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates in December 2015.

But in the backdrop of hostile political relationship between the two countries, the Indian board insisted on holding the series only at home. It prompted a series of parleys, with the ECB chief Giles Clarke playing the role of a mediator, BCCI and PCB seemed to have agreed to a short limited One-Day International series in Sri Lanka.

The PCB has already received a go-ahead signal from the Pakistan government, but the BCCI, which had written to the Modi government for clearance, is still waiting for a response.

The Pentangular T20 Cup is a new addition to the PCB's domestic calendar. It will feature provisional sides - Punjab, Sindh, Baluchistan, Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa and Federal Areas.