Pakistan ready to play but won't run after India for bilateral series: Ehsan Mani

Lahore, July 24:  Pakistan are ready to play a bilateral series with India whenever the latter is ready, but they won't be running after them for a series, said Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ehsan Mani.

"I have taken the view, and I have let it be known to the BCCI, that we are always there to play, but we are not going to be running after them. It is their call, when they are ready to play, we will be willing to play," Mani said during a discussion with cricket authors Peter Oborne and Richard Heller on their podcast 'Oborne & Heller On Cricket.'

"It's a great pity. When India and Pakistan play, there is no other cricket match in the world that is followed as closely or as passionately. I have been told anywhere between 200 and 250 million people watch when India and Pakistan play in the ICC events. Clearly, the public wants it but the politicians in some countries don't," Mani said.

While the two countries have faced each other numerous times in multi-nation tournaments organised by the International Cricket Council or the Asian Cricket Council, India and Pakistan have not faced each other in a bilateral series since Pakistan's 2012/13 tour of India for two T20Is and three ODIs.

The last time the two sides played a Test series against each other was when Pakistan toured India for a three-match series in 2007/08.