Pakistan to discuss CL snub in ICC meeting

PCB not to ignore issue, say reports.

Following yet another snub from the Champions League Twenty20 tournament, Pakistan are expected to raise the issue of their continuous exclusion at the International Cricket Council (ICC) annual meeting later this month in Hong Kong, reported ESPNcricinfo.

The Champions League unveiled its schedule and a new format for this year’s tournament on Monday, a ten-team tournament to be held in India in September and October, but no team from Pakistan was invited.

Although officially the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has chosen not to respond to the snub, but one official said that the issue would not be ignored, revealed the report.

“We plan to have full scale discussions during the ICC Annual General Meeting later this month about our exclusion,” the official told ESPNcricinfo. The board has, according to the official, already raised the issue “indirectly” with other boards, as well as the ICC.

However, according to media reports, the PCB has not yet been in contact with the three boards that run the event – boards of India, Australia and South Africa.

“The response from the Indian side is very cold and we have not discussed this with Cricket Australia or Cricket South Africa because the Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI) in India calls the shots and it is no use discussing it with others,” said the official.

It was further revealed that an official from the Champions League tournament was contacted but no response was received.

Sialkot Stallions from Pakistan were invited to the inaugural edition of the tournament at the end of 2008, but that was postponed after the Mumbai terror attacks in November. In the aftermath of the attacks, the political relationship between India and Pakistan deteriorated, and so did the cricketing ties between the BCCI and PCB. Consequently, the invitation was withdrawn for the 2009 event.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 22^nd, 2011.