BCCI offers to host Pakistan in December

Lahore, November  14 - BCCI president Shashank Manohar has extended an invitation to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to play the bilateral series in India in December, PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan said here on Saturday.

Khan informed that he was given a formal proposal by Manohar during a phone call on Friday evening, but asserted that the PCB wants the series to be played in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as originally scheduled in the MoU signed with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

"Shashank Manohar called me up on Friday evening and told me they have got clearance from their government to play against us. But he said they wanted to play the series in India and not in the UAE," Shaharyar told reporters here.

"He said that the Indian board would devise a formula to ensure that we don't suffer any loss of revenues for playing our home series in India," he added.

The PCB chief also raised concerns about the security of the Pakistan team in India although he revealed that the BCCI has offered to play matches in Mohali and Kolkata, which are relatively safer.

He also criticised the BCCI for their unwillingness to send the Indian team to the UAE.

"I told Manohar how can we play in India when there is so much anti-Pakistan sentiments there by some of their groups. Manohar said that the BCCI want to host those matches in cities where there will be no security concerns. But according to our initial agreement, the series was scheduled to take place in UAE and we should abide by that. I found it very disturbing that they want us to travel to India for our home series," Khan said.

"Manohar also said that the Indian board would provide the best security to our team and schedule the matches in places like Mohali and Kolkata where there is no problem in playing an Indo-Pak match.

"(But) Why should we play our home series in India and not in UAE which is stated in the MoU and there is the matter of security for our team and plus the nearly $50 million that we expect to earn from hosting the series," he added. "We have played our last two series in India and I think it is time we now got to host the series."

The PCB chairman also stated that he is not authorised to take a decision on the bilateral series and any reply to the BCCI proposal will only be given under the guidelines of the federal government. Khan will now take up the issue with the board of governors when they meet on November 17.

"They have offered to discuss the possibility of compensating us for any financial losses. But we will only consider the proposal after the permission of the federal government," Khan said.

"But more importantly I have to first also seek clearance from the prime minister for any decision we take. At the moment I have told the Indian cricket chief to send us a detailed proposal in writing."

(IANS)