Karachi: Hopeful of the Indo-Pak series coming through in December despite the escalation in diplomatic tensions, Pakistan Cricket Board’s senior official Najam Sethi said the situation would be clear by next month.
I am not bothered by political statements coming from India or the fuss in the media around the series. I see it happening because they are highs and lows in Indo-Pak relations all the time and the situation is still not that serious to say there will be no cricket series in December,” Sethi said.
“I think the situation will be much clearer in September when the prime ministers of both countries and the other officials of the foreign ministries are likely to meet on the sidelines on the UN session in New York,” he said in an interview.
Sethi, who was PCB chief when the MOU was signed between the two boards to play six series between 2015 and 2022 with four of them being hosted by Pakistan, said the document was signed in an ICC meeting and it is on record that BCCI said it will not back out.
BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur said on the Geo Super channel on Monday night that the series will not go ahead if the political tensions do not subside.
Seth admitted that government permission and clearance for the series was a must. “When we were to tour Bangladesh earlier this there was anti-Pakistan sentiment there and we were advised to not tour. But we convinced our government that our team should go and play and we did that without any incident. So it is also not necessary that all boards will do what the government does but yes you can’t ignore the government.”
Bureau Report
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