Pakistan incurred losses of $200 million after India's refusal to play says PCB chief

What’s the story?

The Chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Shahryar Khan claimed on Monday that the body suffered losses close to $200 million due to India's unwillingness to play against Pakistan in a bilateral series.

Khan also threatened that the PCB would start legal proceedings against the BCCI after the new draft constitution of the ICC comes out in April this year. He also said he had made his intentions clear to a BCCI representative in a recent ICC gathering.

"I informed the BCCI representative at the ICC meeting recently that PCB had incurred losses of around $200 million because of India's refusal to play us and these losses were mounting as the BCCI was not even honouring a legal agreement to play bilateral series between 2015 and 2023," Khan said in Lahore.

"The new draft constitution has a clause for a disputes resolution committee and once the constitution is final we intend to take our case against the BCCI first to this committee.”

In case you did not know

The Board of Control for Cricket In India had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the PCB in 2014 which stated that the two countries will play at least six bilateral series between 2015 and 2023.

Four of those series would have been hosted by Pakistan and the six would have included up to 14 Tests, 30 ODIs and 12 T20s.

But the recent terror attacks in India have kept all the tours on hold. The last time India played a series in Pakistan was in 2007. However, Pakistan had toured India in 2012/2013 as a goodwill gesture.

The heart of the matter

PCB Chairman Shahryar Khan has threatened the BCCI with legal proceedings if they fail to abide by the MOU which they had signed in 2014. According to Khan India’s refusal to tour Pakistan has resulted in a huge sum of money, close to 200 million.

Reportedly, the MOU had India playing 6 bilateral series from 2015 to 2023. But recent political ties between the two countries have had its impact on the game too and all tours to and fro have been put on hold.

What’s next?

It will be interesting to see how BCCI responds to Khan and whether the PCB indeed goes ahead and sues BCCI. If they do, the BCCI might have to pay a hefty amount as fine.

Sportskeeda’s take

Instead of threatening and taking a dig at each other, the PCB and BCCI officials should sit down and discuss what can be the next step forward. It will be for the good of the game.