The Pakistan Cricket Board today said the BCCI has in a letter expressed regret over the cancellation of talks between the heads of the two boards, Shaharyar Khan and Shashank Manohar.
The PCB said in an announcement that the Board of Control for Cricket in India had sent a letter in which Manohar had expressed sincere regrets for cancellation of the talks in Mumbai last week.
“They have also conveyed to us that the BCCI has officially approached the Indian government to obtain definitive guidance on reviving bilateral cricket ties with Pakistan,” a PCB spokesman said.
Shaharyar had travelled to Mumbai last week on the invitation of Manohar to hold talks on cricket issues and two other senior officials of the board Najam Sethi and Subhan Ahmad also accompanied him.
But after Shiv Sena activists stormed into the BCCI offices in Mumbai the talks were called off and Shaharyar on returning home complained that despite his stay in Mumbai and New Delhi the hosts didn’t contact and talk to him properly.
He had written a letter to the BCCI complaining about the treatment meted out to the Pakistan delegation and also called on the Indian board to convey a clear decision on whether they can play the series in December in the UAE.
Shaharyar had also said that the PCB would seek guidance from its government on whether to send the national team to India next year for the World T20 event.
Shaharyar told reporters in Lahore on today that he was happy to see the Indian board had accepted the ground situation.
“It is a good gesture that they have expressed regret over the cancellation of the talks and also now spoken about the series with their government,” he said.
“It gives some hope again that the series might be held after all in December.”
Asked whether Pakistan would be willing to accept any proposal for a shorter series from the Indians the PCB chief said if such a proposal is made the PCB would have a look at it but it wanted a full series as prescribed in the MoU signed between the two boards.
Shaharyar also said that he was a firm believer that many issues can be resolved through talks.