Better late than never: BCCI apologises to PCB for Mumbai incident

Indian board says Shiv Sena's violent protest was a condemnable act

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), in a letter to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), apologised for the incident where a violent protest by the Hindu right-wing party Shiv Sena caused cancellation of the talks between the two boards in Mumbai.

According to Express News, the letter came in as a result of the rising demand by former Pakistan players to cancel participation in the World Twenty20 next year in India.



The letter, as quoted by a local daily, quoted the BCCI as saying that “they are sorry for what happened in Mumbai."

BCCI further said that the protest by Shiv Sena was a condemnable act.

Earlier, in another positive move, BCCI wrote a letter to the Indian government to ask for approval regarding the series against Pakistan in the UAE, Express News had reported.

The Indian board is expected to receive a reply from the government in mid-November.



The wait is due to the elections which are being held in the province of Bihar which are scheduled on November 5.

In the past setting, PCB chairman Shahryar Khan was invited by the BCCI president Shashank Manohar to visit India to discuss the December series and resolve bilateral cricket issues.



After a violent protest by the Shiv Sena, the talks were cancelled and a dejected Shahryar returned to Pakistan without any formal yes or no on the UAE series.

India maintained that the series was still not called off and they were ready to discuss it in a later meeting.



PCB, meanwhile, wrote a letter to BCCI to inquire about the date and venue of the rescheduled meetings.

The series which is scheduled to be played in December according to the MoU signed between the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and BCCI and has already faced a lot of hurdles on its way towards materialisation.