Pakistan to sue India over bilateral deal
No retirement yet for Misbah
PAKISTAN cricket chiefs have said they will sue India for failing to honour a 2014 deal to play a bilateral Test series.
The Pakistan Cricket Board and the Board of Control for Cricket in India signed an agreement under which the South Asian rivals were due to play six series between 2015 and 2023, subject to clearance from the Indian government.
There has been no Test cricket between the two nations since 2007.
Bilateral cricket ties were severed in the wake of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, which the Indian government blamed on militants based in Pakistan.
Under the agreement India was to tour Pakistan in 2015, with Pakistan visiting its neighbour in 2017. But the BCCI backed out from playing Pakistan – even at a neutral venue – saying New Delhi would not allow it amid strained relations.
“Two series have been defaulted,” said PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan.
“We will write to the BCCI and if they don’t respond then we will take the legal course as we demand compensation.”
The PCB’s executive committee chairman Najam Sethi said Pakistan was missing out financially, losing up to $200-million (about R2.7-billion) on four of the six series it was meant to host.
The two countries have come close to war since September’s assault on a military base in Indian-administered Kashmir, again blamed on militants from Pakistan.
Last month the International Cricket Council docked India six women’s championship match points after failing to play against Pakistan.
Pakistan toured India for a short five-match limited-over series, but it failed to restore full bilateral ties. — AFP PAKISTAN captain Misbah-ul-Haq said yesterday he would lead the side in the third Test against Australia in Sydney, dismissing suggestions he was about to retire.
Misbah, 42, raised the possibility following his team’s abject innings defeat in the second Melbourne Test last week to lose the series, when he said he would contemplate his future and may even retire before today’s final Test.
But Pakistan’s most successful skipper appeared at the captain’s media conference yesterday before the Test to hose down speculation of his imminent retirement.
Misbah, who has scored a total of 20 runs in four innings in the series, said his comments after the innings and 18-run defeat in Melbourne were triggered by frustration. “That was 2016 – now it’s 2017,” he said. “That is gone, that is gone. You have to fight as a sportsman and that’s important for me also.
“I’m happy that I’ve got a very good family, all the team. The way they supported me [was appreciated].”
Misbah said he was not thinking about the end of his international career that started in 2001, although well-placed sources said he would make the final decision about his playing status once he returned home to Pakistan.
Misbah now concentrates only on Test cricket and retired from one-day internationals after Pakistan’s defeat to Australia in the World Cup quarterfinal in 2015. After the Australia Test series Pakistan do not have any Tests scheduled until April, when they will tour the West Indies for a four-match series.
Misbah’s most immediate assignment after the Australia series will be in the United Arab Emirates in the Pakistan Super League with Islamabad United, which starts on February 9.
He opted against naming a final Test team yesterday, admitting there could be changes after his side’s woeful last day in the Melbourne Test. “Traditionally, Sydney is a bit different. It all depends on the final look of the pitch,” he said.
Australia hold an unassailable 2-0 lead in the Test series. Heading into Sydney, Pakistan have not won a Test Down Under since their “dead rubber” victory at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 1995. — AFP Australia: AFP