'Not pleading, not kneeling down': PCB chief Shaharyar Khan says Indo-Pak series unlikely

Islamabad: Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Shaharyar Khan fears chances of a series against India in December are slim as the Indian board is still waiting to get clearance from its government. “I don’t want to give India any ultimatum,” Khan told reporters in Lahore on Tuesday. “The chances (of series) are getting slimmer because I think their problem is they mix politics with sports.” Both the PCB and the Board of Control for Cricket in India last year signed a Memorandum of Understanding to play six series’ between 2015-2023 with Pakistan hosting India for Tests, ODIs and Twenty20s in the United Arab Emirates in December. [caption id=“attachment_2318746” align=“alignright” width=“380”]  File photo of Shaharyar Khan. Reuters[/caption] Khan said he had at least thrice raised the issue of Pakistan vs India series with BCCI officials during various meetings of International Cricket Council since he took over the charge of PCB chairman in last September. “We are not pleading them, we are not kneeling down, we are just telling them that you have signed MoU and tell us whether you are honoring it or not,” Khan said. The PCB chairman hopes India will decide either way about December’s tour and he is likely to meet with secretary general BCCI Anurag Thakur on the sidelines of an ICC meeting in UAE in October. “Now the ball is in Indian court,” he said. “I will talk to whosoever comes from India and tell him that so far you haven’t taken the permission from your government, which is quite unfair.” Both countries have not played a Test match since India beat Pakistan 1-0 at home in 2007. And Khan said the PCB could financially survive even without playing against its arch-rivals. “We are not going to plead them to come and play, after all we haven’t played against them for the last 7-8 years,” he said. Khan said the PCB had made alternative arrangements in case India refused to honor the tour. However, the PCB chairman didn’t reveal which countries they are looking at to replace India. “We are working on Plan B … when the time comes we will tell you. It won’t be equal to Pakistan vs India series, but let’s see what happens if it (Pakistan vs India series) doesn’t happen.” Last week an outspoken Pakistan Twenty20 captain Shahid Afridi also advised the PCB to stop pushing for series against India and instead try to convince other countries to tour Pakistan. Javed Miandad, former captain, had similar views as well. (Read: PCB should listen to Javed Miandad and stop chasing BCCI like a spurned lover ) Pakistan has hosted just one Test playing country since gunmen attacked on Sri Lanka team bus at Lahore in 2009 when Zimbabwe played three ODIs and two Twenty20s – also in Lahore in May. AP