NEW DELHI: A miffed PCB Chairman Shahryar Khan today conceded that the prospects of an Indo-Pak bilateral cricket series are “very low” as “pressures” were preventing the BCCI from taking any initiative on the issue.
Khan said that it was unfair to keep the Pakistan Cricket Board waiting for so long and that he would seek no further meetings with the BCCI officials.
Khan, who was here in Delhi, hoping to meet some top government ministers and officials in a bid to resume cricketing ties with India, said the Indian Board has not responded to the initiative taken by him.
“I am not optimistic (about the series) now after what has happened here because obviously there are pressures here. As of now, the chances are very low. I am not going to make any effort now,” Khan told reporters here without specifying what he meant by pressures.
“There are no further meetings now. Once we have a clear idea that the series won’t happen then we will see all options. Taali do haath se bajti hai (It takes two hands to clap),” he said.
Elaborating on the entire sequence of events since his arrival in the country, Khan said he came on BCCI chief Shashank Manohar’s invitation.
“He (Manohar) was gracious and wanted to talk. He asked would you come to Mumbai for a chat. He said come on Monday that is yesterday. I said fine, I will be in Mumbai on Sunday night. As you know half an hour before we were to meet, I got a message from the BCCI that we will delay the talks, then came another message,
” he said referring to the Shiv Sena
activists’ storming of the BCCI headquarters yesterday.
“So I sat back, I was not in any danger. So that meeting was cancelled. I waited till evening if there was any rescheduled meeting but there was no indication from the BCCI,” he added.
Khan was in the capital today and met IPL Chairman Rajeev
Shhukla at his residence.
”
I came here and the idea was to meet other people and engage with BCCI. But there has been no word from BCCI on how they intend to move forward. So I am now going home because it is very clear that there are pressures here that are preventing BCCI. So I am going and no meeting now. I met Shukla ji because I know him for several years meeting him is not meeting the BCCI,” he explained. (PTI)
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