BCCI dismisses PCB's claim of not honouring 'contract' to play Indo-Pak series

Kolkata, April 23 - The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Monday dismissed Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) claim of an alleged MoU between the two nations to play a bilateral series, saying only a "statement of intent was

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Earlier, PCB chief Sethi had slammed the BCCI for not incorporating the "permission from central government" clause in the alleged contract to play bilateral series.

"If India comes to Pakistan, they want security and vice-versa because of the political situation. But there is no security issue if we play in a third country, which is what we have been saying. We play our home games in the UAE," Sethi had told reporters in an interaction on Monday.

"But apparently the BCCI is having difficulty in ensuring that they can do that. They say they don't have government permission. Our position is that why should you require government permission? We don't take government permission. The ICC does not want interference from the government in affairs of cricket boards," he said.

"In any case, when you were signing the contract, if government permission was such a major issue, you should have put it in the contract, you did not. So what is the problem," he asked.

As per the newly drafted Future Tours Programme (FTP), India have slots for Pakistan series, but it won't happen till the clearance comes from the Indian government.

India and Pakistan haven't played a bilateral series December 2012.

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IANS