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Diplomatic Issues Preventing Indo-Pak Series: ICC president Sharad Pawar

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Diplomatic Issues Preventing Indo-Pak Series: ICC president Sharad Pawar

In the aftermath of the 26/11 2008 http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mumbai-c820 attacks, cricket between India and Pakistan came to a standstill. Both teams have not played any series against each other since then. They have only played one ODI match in the ICC Champions Trophy. India was set to tour Pakistan in 2008, but the tour got cancelled following deteriorating relationships between the two countries. Pakistan and India have had rocky relations for some time now. Both countries only managed a brief stint of cricketing relations between 2003-04 and 2007-08. PCB and BCCI, in recent times, have failed to establish a healthy relationship. Pakistan lost its right to host the ICC World Cup after the horrific terrorism attacks on the Sri Lankan team. Sources in PCB believe that BCCI successfully engineered the whole move in order to isolate Pakistan in the cricketing world.

ICC Ex-President David Morgan believes he can broker a deal between Pakistan and India in order to iron out their differences.  He wants to convince PCB and BCCI to settle their difference since a Pakistan vs India series is as big as the Ashes. He wants them to renew their on-field rivalries. Morgan said: "One of the things I am working on is trying to persuade the BCCI that they should play bilaterally as opposed to in ICC events with Pakistan, India versus Pakistan, Pakistan versus India is the equivalent of the Ashes in Test match cricket parlance.”

This series will also help PCB overcome its financial crises. According to PCB chairman http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ijaz-Butt-c64128, the board lost US $40 million because India cancelled its tour to Pakistan. Pakistan faced losses of US $125 million in the last year because different series got cancelled or postponed. Currently, PCB and ICC are working together to sort out different solutions in order to control their financial losses. It was because of this coordination that Pakistan has managed to arrange a home series in England. Last year, Pakistan faced more problems when PCB started a legal battle against ICC. The issue was finally resolved out of court and Morgan told a private website that the matter was never out of control. Morgan further added that ICC is determined to make all efforts in order to promote cricket in Pakistan, since they have been excellent ambassadors for the game. "The ICC is determined that Pakistan should not be isolated. Pakistan is an extremely important cricketing nation, a very important part of the ICC. If you look back at the last two decades, Pakistan has produced some of the most stylish, some of the most achieving cricketers.”

Shard Pawar, the current President of ICC, recently ruled out any series between the two countries on account of diplomatic issues. He told reporters that it is not in the hands of ICC or boards; ground realities show that it’s a diplomatic issue which cannot be simply solved by ICC. “Immediate ties between both countries are not possible. It is not in the hands of the cricket boards. It is a diplomatic issue. This is a decision taken by the Indian government," Pawar added.

After recent meetings between board heads in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Singapore-c3005, speculations are surfacing of an Indio-Pak clash on neutral ground. This recent change came after Pakistan backed India for the rejection of ICC Vice-President nominee John Howard. Pakistan's backing of other Asian and African countries was a good move to improve diplomatic relations with other boards.

So far, PCB has remained tight-lipped on this issue, and has not made any statement. On Wednesday in Lahore, when the PCB chairman was asked questions with regards to an http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750-Pakistan series, Butt neither confirmed nor denied this query. Unlike his previous statements, where he openly spoke in favour of an Indo-Pak series, Butt this time argued that negotiations between two boards should remain confidential till any further development takes place.

Cricket is religiously followed in both countries. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 vs. India series have always been a nail-biting event. Let’s hope that the political issues between the two countries are sorted, and fans across the board can enjoy some quality cricket. After all, who doesn’t want an Afridi-Pathan clash?

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