BCCI rejects PCB's demand for ₹447 crore compensation

Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Shaharyar Khan confirmed that the PCB got a response from the BCCI with regard to the legal notice that they had sent their the Indian board. In the notice, the PCB had demanded ₹ 447 crores as compensation from the BCCI for not playing Pakistan in a bilateral series, as per the MoU the two countries signed in 2014, which mentioned six series between the two countries.

Indian Express reported Khan as saying, "We have a got a reply from BCCI and they have raised some points. One of them is they don't consider the MOU a binding legal agreement between the two Boards. Secondly, they have pointed out that permission of government is necessary for any Indo-Pak series and since their government is not giving them permission, they can't play with us."

In the second point of their response, the BCCI raised security concerns of playing Pakistan adding that it also needed permission from the Indian government to do so and cited this as the reason for not touring Pakistan as per the MoU. Despite the BCCI’s negative response, Khan insisted that the MoU was a proper contract signed in 2014.

"The MoU was signed with the knowledge of the ICC. We will send them another letter and if they don’t respond positively to our compensation demand or to play series then we have completed our homework to take our case to the ICC disputes resolution committee," Khan added.

More importantly, the PCB chief is all set to fight the matter till the finish, as he said, "Let me clear that the PCB's case is strong and we will go to the last stage to win at the ICC level since it is our right to demand justice."  

Finally, as far as the security issue is concerned Khan believes that it’s India’s responsibility to get permission from their government and not the PCB’s concern.

"We even were willing to go and play at any neutral venue so where does this security issue crop up. India has played international bilateral matches at neutral venues," Khan concluded