Dalmiya sceptical about early resumption of bilateral ties
In an effort to revive truncated cricket ties with Pakistan, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has written to Atal Behari Vajpayee, India's Prime Minister, requesting him for permission to play Pakistan at neutral venues
Wisden CricInfo staff
04-May-2003
In an effort to revive truncated cricket ties with Pakistan, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has written to Atal Behari Vajpayee, India's Prime Minister, requesting him for permission to play Pakistan at neutral venues. The Indian government is yet to officially respond.
However, Jagmohan Dalmiya, the BCCI president, said that the revival of bilateral ties between the two countries would be delayed, despite the positive signals from the Indian government. He said: "It may take until early next year because of many reasons. Many of our cricketers are injured, while we have also allowed some of our players to play county cricket in England."
On Saturday Dalmiya met General Tauqir Zia, chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), at an Asian Cricket Foundation meeting in Dubai. But Dalmiya admitted to the Times of India that the meeting failed to find a slot for the Asia Cup - the Test championship involving India Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh - before next February.
The Indian government had banned bilateral cricket with Pakistan in 2000. However, the Indian team is allowed to play Pakistan in multilateral events, as they did in the recently concluded World Cup. Direct sporting relations continue between India and Pakistan in other sports such as hockey.
Earlier in March, the Indian government had overruled another request from the BCCI to resume bilateral matches with Pakistan. The BCCI claimed that it could be heavily penalized by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for failing to fulfill commitments. In an embarrassing contradiction, the ICC promptly denied such a possibility, maintaining that it will not hold individual boards accountable for governmental decisions.
But with big money at stake, both the Indian and Pakistani cricket boards have increased their lobbying with the Indian government. "We want to somehow resume bilateral cricket," said Karunakaran Nair, the BCCI secretary. Nair said that senior board members would discuss the issue by the end of May.