There has been a lot of talk about an India-Pakistan bilateral series. India’s BCCI and Pakistan’s PCB have declared their intention to play the series in Sri Lanka, a neutral venue this December. While the Pakistan government has given its permission for the series to go ahead, the Indian government hasn’t given its nod as yet.
Indeed, the fact that the Indian government has delayed giving its permission to the India-Pakistan series for so long has raised questions as to whether the series will actually go ahead or not. According to sources, senior ministers in the Indian government have said that the final decision on the series will be taken by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi. He added that it was very difficult for the series to go ahead given the sort of uncertainty that exists in the relationship between India and Pakistan.
Senior BCCI officials such as Anurag Thakur and Shashank Manohar have been very tightlipped about the whole thing. But another board official who didn’t want to be named said that considering the political situation in India, the series “looks unlikely considering the government has not said anything.”
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BCCI and PCB had met earlier in Dubai and had decided to hold the series in Sri Lanka, provided it was cleared by their respective national governments. Anurag Thakur, the BCCI secretary has submitted a written request to the Indian foreign ministry for their permission to allow the series to go ahead.
Rajiv Shukla, the chairman of the IPL governing council told journalists, “Sports should not be dragged into political and diplomatic controversies. We cannot decide on the series with Pakistan without the consent of the government. That is why we have written to the government and are awaiting its response. The moment we get the response, we will let everyone know.”
The PCB has been left largely confused and has been increasingly worried over the complete silence from the BCCI over the series. If the series is not held it would be huge setback for cricketing ties between India and Pakistan.
The BCCI had earlier asked Pakistan if they were open to playing the series in India. Pakistan had denied the offer for two reasons – one, that it was Pakistan’s turn to host the a bilateral series in India, and two, they were worried about the security of their players given that political parties such as Shiv Sena were dead against any India-Pakistan series being held.
However, the two boards reached a compromise in a meeting held in Dubhai between BCCI’s Shashank Manohar and PCB’s Shaharyar Khan. They had tentatively decided to play three ODIs and two T20s in Sri Lanka, starting from December 15. But that is now in doubt given that the Indian government has not yet given a nod to the series.
In India, there has been a public outcry against the India-Pakistan series being held. One of the top Twitter trends in India over the past week has been #NoCricketWithPakistan. Clearly, there is no public support of any sort for a cricket series with Pakistan given that India and Pakistan are currently engaged in a low intensity over Kashmir.
It would be a huge gamble for the Indian government to take if they decide to ignore public sentiment in India and give their permission for the series to go ahead. Indeed, most of the press in India has been highly critical of BCCI officials for even considering the series and have called them unpatriotic.
So, at IndiaBet.org, we don’t know if the series between India and Pakistan will happen or not. But we can say for sure that the general public in India is dead against it. If the Indian government were to give its nod to the series, we will be sure to cover it for you.
