‘No formal agreement with PCB, so no question of compensating,’ says BCCI

The diplomatic relations between India and Pakistan are at its lowest ebb and the BCCI has made it clear that in such circumstances, decision of playing a bilateral series with Pakistan was not in their hands.

In a major setback to the Pakistan Cricket Board‘s (PCB) hopes of getting a hefty compensation from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in the wake of no bilateral cricket between the two nations, the Indian board has categorically ruled out paying any compensation, saying the PCB misunderstood a “tentative understanding” as a formal agreement. The BCCI stated that bilateral cricket with Pakistan was subject to Government approval, something that was not in the board’s control. The diplomatic relations between India and Pakistan are at its lowest ebb and the BCCI has made it clear that in such circumstances, decision of playing a bilateral series with Pakistan was not in their hands.

“The BCCI is not liable to compensate the Pakistan Cricket Board (“PCB”) as asserted by you. The letter dated April 9, 2014 enclosed along with your Letter contemplated that the BCCI and the PCB will enter into a long form FTP Agreement in respect of the tours specified therein. The tentative understanding set out in the letter dated 9th April 2014 has not been formalised by way of a long form FTP Agreement, as was contemplated,” the BCCI letter, sent to PCB on Wednesday evening, said, according to a report in The Indian Express.

A week back, the PCB had slapped a notice on the BCCI for defaulting on a bilateral series twice as per the MoU signed between the two cricket boards in 2014, based on the letter sent by the then BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel to Najam Sethi where BCCI had agreed to play 12 Tests, 30 ODIs and 12 T20Is between 2015 and 2022 subject to government clearance. The PCB had also claimed a compensation of US$ 69,576,405. But the government of India clearance never came as the relations between the two nations have remained strained. The PCB, meanwhile, had threatened legal action against the BCCI for breaching the MoU and eventually sent a notice of dispute.

“In any event, the BCCI is not responsible for not i) engaging in a limited over format short tour to Pakistan in November 2014; and/or ii) playing the series scheduled for December 2015 since the same (as you are well aware) are, by their very nature, dependent on a whole host of factors including but not limited to the absence of necessary approvals/permissions/clearances (including from the Government of India), which are beyond the control of BCCI,” the letter further read.

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