The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is eager to revive cricketing ties with India, and is likely to seek the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) help in this regard during the two-day meeting of the ICC Task Force, which is scheduled to take place in Dubai on December 6-7.
PCB chairman Ijaz Butt would meet the Task Force chief, Giles Clarke and other members of the panel, which was set up by the ICC after Pakistan expressed fears of getting isolated following the refusal of international teams to visit the country because of security concerns.
“It is a regular meeting of the task force. We will be discussing certain issues and I’ll be in a better position to talk about them once we are finished with the meeting,” The News quoted Butt, as saying.
While the PCB has described the meeting as a ‘regular’ one, insiders said it would be pushing the ICC to pave the way for the resumption of cricket ties with India, in order to boost its sagging financial condition.
According to an estimate, just one home series against India is worth around 45 million dollars as per the TV rights deal. In comparison, the PCB will receive a paltry amount of 800,000 dollars as it share from TV rights for the ongoing series against New Zealand.
“It is like if you take India out of the equation, the TV rights deal will fetch you roughly 30 percent of the total amount. And that is certainly not enough to run Pakistan cricket in a proper manner,” sources said.
India has already made it clear that it would not be visiting Pakistan in the near future, however, the PCB is hoping that the ICC would help sort out the issues.
“There is this possibility that the PCB might ask the (ICC) Task Force to look into this matter and explore ways to pave the path for the revival of bilateral series between Pakistan and India,” sources added.
