Pak-India cricket deadlock: 2008-2012 [Part 4]
Continued from Part 3 ...
During the remainder of Ijaz Butt’s tenure as Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman, only two more references were made to the revival of Indo-Pak bilateral ties. In April 2011, the PCB claimed that talks on the issue had been re-initiated with the BCCI,
and in July the very same year, the board’s attempts to gain clearance from the Indian government, for a tour of India in March-April 2012, came to naught, with the proposed series going on to be shelved.
In 2012, however, the PCB redoubled its efforts for the resumption of ties like never before. The new man at the helm of the PCB, Zaka Ashraf, made it a point to push for the revival as much as possible, reiterating the need for cricket between the two neighbouring
nations.
In April 2012, with Indian Premier League (IPL) fever running high, BCCI vice-president and chairman of the IPL Rajiv Shukla dared to touch a sore point as he discussed the absence of Pakistani players in the T20 league, while speaking to Pakistani news
channel Geo. Clarifying that the players could only be allowed to take part in the IPL once bilateral ties between both nations resumed, Shukla revealed that both countries’ cricket boards had been in touch over the issue, and added that Zaka Ashraf,
the new PCB chairman, had “made all the right moves to get the ball rolling”.
However, a significant change began to be felt only in May 2012, when several new developments indicated a thaw in relations was forthcoming. Having been barred from the T20 competitions conducted by the BCCI, Pakistan’s domestic T20 champions, the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sialkot-c842
Stallions, were granted clearance to participate in the 2012 edition of the Champions League Twenty20. With Stallions’ skipper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shoaib-Malik-c90088 having previously requested the PCB to take up the matter of their participation in the CLT20, the move was undoubtedly
an encouraging one. The Champions League T20 governing council approved the inclusion of the Stallions in the 2012 tournament, and the team went on to take part in the competition during October this year.
In addition to giving the green light to the Stallions, the BCCI also invited Zaka Ashraf to watch the IPL final in Chennai that month, after which the PCB chairman confirmed that the possibility of organising a bilateral series had been discussed, and would
be taken up again as both board officials met during the ICC's conference in June, which was held in Kuala Lumpur.
Wise to the influence politics had in the matter, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Srinivasan-c90829 agreed to arranging a bilateral
series, but without committing to any specific details, claiming he needed to discuss the issue with authorities back home. However, the authorities did not appear to have a problem, as India’s foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai gave it the green light from his
side, claiming the revival of cricketing ties was a matter which had to be worked out between the BCCI and the PCB.
Having received clearance, the BCCI officially ended the 5-year-long deadlock on July 16, 2012, by announcing that India would be hosting http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 in late 2012. While the series was criticised by
several former players, such as http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Kirtivardhan-Bhagwat-Jha-Azad-c71530, it has generally been hailed as a welcome move, and a step in the right direction. Both teams will be playing two T20Is (on December 25 and 28) and three ODIs (on December 30, January 3 and 6)
in the ice-breaking series, and to the delight of fans on both sides, one of the greatest rivalries in cricket is back on.
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