PCB to sue BCCI in ICC over not playing bilateral series

Lahore, July 29 (IANS) Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) plans to sue the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in the International Cricket Council (ICC) for not honouring the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for playing bilateral series with it.

Outgoing PCB chairman Shahryar Khan on Saturday disclosed that it has reserved Rs one billion to fight a legal battle against its Indian counterpart in the ICC dispute resolution committee for not honouring its promise of playing bilateral series with Pakistan.Khan, who presided over a Board of Governors (BoG) meeting here on Friday, the last one under his chairmanship, said the BoGs had approved the amount to bear expenses of the legal fight for which qualified British lawyers had been hired.

"We have hired a British law firm to represent us in the case and file the compensation claim with the disputes resolution committee," Khan said.

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Khan said the PCB was left with no choice but to move the dispute resolving committee after failing to convince the BCCI to honour the MoU.

"The BCCI claims they can't play any bilateral series with us since their government is not giving clearance to them," he said.

In 2014, both the boards had signed an MoU under which the two arch-rivals were to play six bilateral series between 2015-2023. 

As per the MoU, India was scheduled to play six series against Pakistan, four of which were going to be Pakistan's home series.

The BCCI, however, has left it on the Indian government to decide on the series in the wake of the ongoing political tensions between the two countries.

In May this year, the PCB had sent a legal notice to the BCCI for failing to honour the MoU and said it would initiate legal action against the Indian board for not fulfilling its promise.

Khan also said that the Pakistan team will not play in Bangladesh for the third consecutive time until they tour Pakistan for a brief series if not a full tour.

"We will not send our team to Bangladesh for the third consecutive time until they visit Pakistan to play some matches," he said.

He also praised the men's national team under Sarfraz Ahmed for their recent ICC Champions Trophy win despite international teams not touring the country since 2009.

"Sarfraz Ahmed did a very good job as captain and we feel that since he has been made captain in all three formats and is still young the Pakistan cricket has a good future ahead of it," he said.

He however lamented the disappointing performance of the Pakistan women team in the recent ICC World Cup.

He said the country was not producing women cricketers and most of the players who represented the country in the mega event had been part of the national team since last eight years.

He also shed light on some of the other developments during his three-year tenure -- the end of the Big Three formula -- as one of them which he felt would also generate more revenue for the PCB.

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IANS