Former ICC president advises PCB not to follow BCCI blindly

28 Jul, 2012

”They blindly followed what the BCCI conveyed to them. The officials showed a lack of competence by saying yes without putting forward the board’s (PCB) point of view,” Mani said.

"As far as the resumption is concerned, it will be good for world cricket, fans and help in bridging gaps between the two countries," he added.

Few days’ earlier former PCB chairman, Ijaz Butt, had also pushed the board to seek compensation from India for the cancelled tour of 2009.

Mani also pointed out that under the ICC FTP; India had to compensate Pakistan for the cancelled tour of 2009 when India was to play a full series in Pakistan. The tour was put off due to the terror attacks in Mumbai.

The BCCI had earlier this month officially invited Pakistan to tour India for a short one-day series in December to signal the revival of bilateral ties, suspended since the Mumbai terror attacks in November 2008.

The PCB, after accepting the invitation, fire off a debate by issuing a statement that it would not seek a revenue share from the BCCI in the coming series and that it’s only interest was to revive cricket ties with India.

Mani believed while it was true that cricket helped people of both countries to get closer, but the PCB should gain something from the series. He also felt that the PCB wasted a great opportunity of earning huge revenue, which is expected from the forthcoming battle.

"The PCB should have demanded the revenue sharing. The BCCI is expected to earn a sum of $100 million from the series. But if the PCB is conceding the revenue then it should take BCCI’s word about the next series which is very important," he added.

He recommends the board to not sacrifice the interests of Pakistan cricket and relations between the two boards should be based on mutual benefits.

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