Deadlock over next year’s Champions Trophy continued as Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Mohsin Naqvi said on Saturday that an International Cricket Council (ICC) meeting to discuss the issue was delayed.
The tournament, scheduled to take place in Pakistan from February 19 to March 9, has become embroiled in a dispute, with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) refusing to send its team to Pakistan, citing political and security concerns, despite assurances from all member boards regarding the security arrangements and the tentative match schedule.
BCCI representatives on Thursday turned down the PCB’s proposal of adopting a “partnership formula” for the next three years as part of efforts to break the ongoing deadlock between the two parties.
Addressing the continuing deadlock while speaking to the media in Lahore today, Naqvi said: “We had a meeting [with the ICC] today, it’s been postponed. Once the details have been finalised we’ll update you.”
Naqvi refused to answer or comment on any alleged developments with the ICC or the BCCI regarding the Champions Trophy, only saying that “we will not disappoint the nation”.
“Talks are still ongoing but I do not want to say anything that is premature. We are aiming to achieve the best for Pakistani and international cricket,” he said. Responding to another question, he refused to comment, stating that he did not want to “hurt negotiations”.
Naqvi said Pakistan was playing a “positive role” in the talks.
Answering a question about newly appointed ICC chief Jay Shah, Naqvi did not comment, only replying: “If the ICC progresses, cricket will progress. If there is a dent in the ICC it will be felt across the world.”
With the BCCI having unofficially communicated to the tournament organisers last month about the Indian government’s refusal to allow the country’s cricket team to visit host Pakistan, a hybrid model was reported to have been agreed upon earlier this week.
The model, in its originality would have seen India play their Champions Trophy matches at a neutral venue, while the rest of the tournament is held in Pakistan. The PCB, however, had added a tit-for-tat condition to it; Pakistan would also play their matches at neutral venues when India host an ICC tournament in the future — it being dubbed as the “partnership formula”.
The PCB initially wanted the condition to be applied until the end of the current Future Tours Programme cycle of the ICC, which culminates with the 2031 Cricket World Cup. With the BCCI disagreeing to it, its Pakistan counterpart proposed the same for the next three years.
Amid political tensions between the two neighbours, the BCCI has stood firm by the Indian government’s policy of not engaging with Pakistan in terms of bilateral cricket over the years.
However, after having played the last bilateral series against each other in 2012, Pakistan and India have competed in ICC tournaments and the Asia Cup. Pakistan, in fact, visited India to feature in the ICC World Cup last year.
The visit, if anything, heightened expectations of India returning the favour by touring Pakistan for the Champions Trophy. But with that not being a realistic possibility and the hybrid model established as the only way out, the PCB wants things to be done on “equal terms” as Naqvi said last week.
The Champions Trophy issue has coincided with BCCI secretary Jay Shah taking charge as the ICC president on Dec 1. It is understood that Jay, son of Indian Home Minister Amit Shah — a key leader of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, the country’s ruling party — tried his best to delay his arrival to office until the deadlock between the Pakistan and India’s cricket representatives was broken. The issue, however, continued.
Sources said the PCB has come to realise its role in the ICC’s politics and is playing all its cards to “bring India to the breaking point”. Meanwhile, however, broadcasters are pressurising the ICC to release the Champions Trophy schedule, with the tournament less than three months away.
