Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) should not agreed to play a short series in India without any reassurances from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), former ICC chief Ehsan Mani said on Monday. "This tour of India. It's a step in the right direction. It's a good thing that Pakistan and India bilateral series are starting," he told a website in an interview.
"But to the observers it looks as if the PCB has agreed to play this series without any sort of return from the BCCI with regards to either another series on a neutral ground or anything coming PCB way, he commented. "I think the PCB is wrong to have agreed to this. If it is a political decision, then the PCB should have asked the politicians to make sure that India reciprocated by coming and playing against Pakistan even if it was at a neutral venue," Ehsan Mani, maintained.
"For Pakistan to go and play in India, when India owes Pakistan two reciprocity series, it would be totally wrong that Pakistan should be going to India. "My opinion is Pakistan should not be going to India at all. India or the BCCI went out of its way after the Mumbai attack to isolate Pakistan cricket at the ICC," he remarked. "BCCI knew full well that by refusing to play Pakistan even at neutral venue, they were going to cost Pakistan a huge amount of money, which they did, about $70 or $80 million. This short series will enable BCCI to earn over $100 million, probably as much as $150 million," Ehsan Mani pointed out.
"All we're doing is to help India make a lot of money out of us, with no assurance of a reciprocal tour. So I think it has not been thought through properly. It is sort of trying to get the headlines. I don't see any benefit to Pakistan cricket in terms of getting cricket back to Pakistan by playing this series. Certainly, I am not in favour of it," ex- ICC chief said. Commenting on the key points ICC need to keep a close tab on in international cricket, Ehsan Mani said corruption will continue to be an issue that will need to be monitored diligently and that will always be on the top of my list in terms of what the ICC should be doing.
"There are three countries or may be four - India, Australia, England, South Africa may be doing well financially," he said. "You cannot run international cricket on the strength of four countries. Countries like Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan are in that basket, as is New Zealand are all in pretty bad financial condition. So there is something wrong in the whole structure of the way that the ICC funding is taking place.
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