Hopes slim for India-Pakistan series: PCB chief

Islamabad, Dec 10: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shaharyar Khan has said that India’s Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj did not discuss resumption of cricketing ties with Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif during her visit here.

PCB was hoping Swaraj, who arrived here on Tuesday for the Heart of Asia regional conference, would give the green light to the series after a prolonged uncertainty.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is also waiting for the Indian government to give the go-ahead to the series.

A limited overs series — three One-Day internationals (ODIs) and two T20Is — was agreed to between the two boards and was scheduled to start in December 15 in Sri Lanka but ran into trouble as the Indian government is yet to decide on it even as Sharif has given permission for it.

“We were hoping for some positive development finally but it is very disappointing that cricket was not discussed in the meeting between the Indian Foreign Minister and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif,” Khan was quoted as saying by The Dawn paper on Wednesday.

“The prospects of organising a series now seem very bleak and we stand to lose at least $50 million under the current scenario.”

The PCB chairman gave BCCI a December 7 deadline to decide on the series hoping for a positive response.

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi met on the sidelines of a climate change conference in Paris last week.

Making arrangements for the series — which could run from December 17-January 3 — would be “challenging” at such short notice, Khan said, “but we will do it once we get clearance from the Indian government.”  (IANS)