Pakistan govt. denies permission for India series, says PCB

The Pakistani government has put the foot down on the bilateral series, citing security concerns and safety issues. Najam Sethi, member of the PCB's executive committee was quoted by the Hindustan Times as saying, “The Pakistani government position is that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) cannot play in India without the government’s permission which has not been given. The government raised security and safety issues for the PCB regarding playing in India.”

Sethi also wondered why their proposal of a neutral venue was booted away and also conveyed that the PCB expected a reprisal of the situation from the Indian board. “I don’t know why India doesn’t want to play in the UAE. It recently played IPL matches there. We are waiting for a fresh proposal from the BCCI. But our position is clear. We are not going to play in India.” Sethi said.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the PCB and the BCCI in 2014 had stated that Pakistan will be allowed to host matches either in Pakistan or UAE. The six tours during the scheduled time consisted of 14 Tests, 30 ODIs and 12 T20s.

The PCB also brooded upon their rights to host the 'home' series and stated that it was their decision to conduct the matches at a venue comfortable to them. “This is Pakistan’s “home” series which means that choice of venue is PCB’S right and all revenues accrue to PCB just as when it is India’s home series in 2017, all revenues will accrue to BCCI and the venue will be India choice,” Sethi told.

The PCB has threatened to take the matter to the ICC if their Indian counterpart does not keep up to its commitment. 

Meanwhile, the BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur asked fans to wait a few more days to find out whether the iconic bilateral series between arch-rivals India and Pakistan would go ahead next month. "Wait for a couple of more days," said Thakur, reported PTI.