PCB urges BCCI to allow December series

Lahore, September 2 - The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has written to its Indian counterpart on Wednesday, inquiring about the status of the bilateral series scheduled to be staged in the UAE in December.The series has been hit by uncertainty after the recent flare up of tension on the border. 

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Anurag Thakur had voiced his opposition to the series on social networking platform Twitter a few days ago, asserting that cricketing relations should not be maintained if Pakistan continued to harbour notorious gangster Dawood Ibrahim and encouraged the separatist movement in Kashmir.

But PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan stated in the letter that sports should be kept separate from politics and urged the BCCI to allow the series to take place.

"Politics is vulnerable to highs and lows and the sport of cricket should be kept away from it. Cricket is a tool to formulate peace between the countries," Khan was quoted as saying in the letter by Express Tribune.

"Anurag Thakur, secretary BCCI, should make the series possible in December," he added.Khan had earlier opined that the series was unlikely to take place because of resistance by the BCCI.

The fate of the series depends on clearance from India's home ministry.

The two boards had also differed over television broadcast rights. The PCB wants the series to be telecast by Ten Sports which has been opposed by the BCCI.

But Khan is adamant that the broadcasting rights should go to Ten Sports."We have given the broadcasting rights to Ten Sports and Internationl Cricket Council (ICC) accepts the channel's bid," he wrote.

The last time the two neighbours played a bilateral Test series was in 2007 when the Pakistan team made the trip across the border in November of that year.

However, they did play a limited overs series in the 2012-13 season when Pakistan toured India to play three ODIs and two T20 Internationals.

(IANS)