Ehsan Mani, the Pakistan Cricket Board chief, hopes for the resumption of bilateral cricket ties between India and Pakistan, but has stressed his Board will not “beg” India to play.
“We will not beg India or any other country to play cricket with us; we want resumption of bilateral cricket ties with India in a decent and dignified manner,” Dawn quoted Mani as telling the media at the Gaddafi Stadium on Thursday.
India and Pakistan have not played any bilateral series since January, 2013. Both teams have, however, met several times in global competitions. Mani also confirmed that the Pakistan women’s team will play matches of the ICC women’s championship in India in November, 2018, and that the team’s participation will help the Board understand whether bilateral cricket ties between the two arch-rivals could be resumed any time soon.
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Revealing PCB’s plans to resume international cricket in Pakistan, he said: “We will host the Sri Lankan team for two Test matches of this inaugural edition of the event in September. Then our team will be flying to Australia in October/November for one day-and-night and one day Test of the [ICC Test] championship.”
The Sri Lankan team will then visit Pakistan in December. They will play three One-Day Internationals and three Twenty20 Internationals, stated Mani.
Mani also revealed that the Board was trying to persuade the foreign teams to visit Pakistan and for this purpose, he has been utilising his experience of heading the International Cricket Council and his personal relations with different cricket boards. “We want to see our cricket arenas having international cricket activities on a regular basis, the way it used to be in the past, and we are speeding up our efforts and contacts with cricket playing nations, as [now] things have improved a lot as far as the security situation is concerned,” he said.
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