Atmosphere not conducive for Pakistan-India cricket series: BCCI secretary

Anurag Thakur says Pakistan should talk to India before resumption of cricket

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Anurag Thakur said on Sunday the series between Pakistan and India cannot take place right now as the political atmosphere is not conducive for it.

"The atmosphere right now is not conducive for cricket to be played between the two countries. Pakistan government should talk to Indian government first. That will be a great help for building the conducive atmosphere," said Thakur on the sidelines of a cricket match between Parliamentarians and Celebrities.

Thakur said that both countries need to create a good environment before any cricketing ties could be resumed between them.



"And then you don't require so much effort for talks to happen between two cricketing boards," he added.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shahryar Khan visited India last week on BCCI president Shashank Manohar’s invitation but the talks were disrupted as Hindu right-wing party Shiv Sena activists stormed the Indian board’s office in Mumbai and chanted anti-Pakistan slogans demanding PCB officials to be sent back.



Following the disturbance caused by Shiv Sena, Shahryar returned to Pakistan and lamented the ignorant attitude of BCCI towards the scheduled series which is supposed to be held in December in the UAE according to the MoU signed between both the boards.

PCB, on Friday, wrote a letter to BCCI demanding the rescheduling of the meeting to decide if the series will take place or not.

Meanwhile, Shahryar, in a statement, also said that the Pakistan government will be reluctant to send its team to India to participate in the World Twenty20 next year.



“We will have to take advice from the Pakistan government and I think the government will say don’t go in the event,” said Shahryar.

Shahryar said that if such a situation arose then Pakistan would be ready to forfeit their matches in the World Twenty20, organised under the International Cricket Council (ICC).

The article originally appeared on Times of India