Sourav Ganguly’s ascension good but don’t expect breakthrough in Indo-Pak ties, says Ehsan Mani

Sourav Ganguly has always been vocal about his team's 2004 tour of Pakistan and the beautiful experience that he had. he always used to feel that such tours and such bilateral series between the two nations must happen because they bring rivalry and excitement and there is no better feeling than playing against Pakistan and beating them. Now the BCCi President-elect, one would expect Ganguly to fastrack the talks for Indo-Pak bilateral series. 

“He (Ganguly) has been involved with Bengal cricket for some time now. And he is a highly respected player, very good cricket mind. So it can only be good for cricket, not only for India but for world cricket to have a voice of his calibre in the ICC,” PCB Chief Ehsan Mani told The Indian Express.

But Ehsan Mani is keeping low expectations of that to happen because he believes that the government and diplomatic intervention will prevent any talks from happening between the two boards.

“No. It’s for the BCCI what they want to do. Sourav has already said very clearly that this is a decision that the Indian government seems to control," he replied when asked about bilateral series talks between the boards.

"It’s very unfortunate for me that the government interferes in sports like this. But we have to respect that, as that’s what the BCCI wants. We do not have that sort of political interference in Pakistan,” he added by taking a dig at Indian politicians interfering too much.

Even Ganguly had his say on this issue, saying that it is up to the Prime Ministers of both countries to give permission for this series. He said, “Of course we have (to take permission) because international exposure (tours) is all through governments. So we don’t have an answer to that question.”

BCCI and PCB have had cordial relations over the years. But that might have taken a dent when CoA member Vinod Rai called for complete isolation of Pakistan Cricket from the rest of the world. With cross-border terrorism prevalent, only time will tell when India and Pakistan will next face each other in a bilateral series.