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‘The chairman had stated that the PCB is ready to play in India despite security threats but only as part of the contract it has signed in 2014 with the BCCI’
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shaharyar Khan has clarified his recent comment on agreeing to play series in India, saying that it was related to the contract signed between his board and the Board of control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in 2014.
"Pakistan had agreed to host four series in Pakistan or any third country like the UAE or Sri Lanka with mutual consent while India was to host two series in India. The BCCI has failed to fulfill this contract as a result of which the PCB has sent a legal notice to the BCCI," a PCB statement said while clarifying Shaharyar's comment.
"The chairman had stated that the PCB is ready to play in India despite security threats but only as part of the contract it has signed in 2014 with the BCCI, in which it is clearly noted that first India will play Pakistan in PakisÂtan's home series, be it in PakisÂtan or a neutral venue," the statement added.
Earlier, Shaharyar had stated despite security threats, they are ready to send their cricket team to play a series in India.
"We are ready to play in India, but the Board of Control for Cricket in India is not ready to let the Indian team play against us even in their own country," he had added.
He had also maintained that even the International Cricket Council (ICC) accepts that a series between the two arch rivals is the most important series in the cricketing world as it generates "the most" revenue.
On Thursday, the BCCI had rejected the PCB's demand of compensation for not playing bilateral cricket series with the Asian neighbours.
The PCB had earlier this month sent a legal notice to its Indian counterpart for failing to honour the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the two cricket boards in 2014.
The PCB had also demanded compensation close to USD 60 million from the BCCI for not honouring the MoU signed when N. Srinivasan was at the helm of affairs in the Indian board.
According to the 2014 agreement, India were scheduled to play six series against Pakistan, four of them were going to be Pakistan's home series, subject to clearance from the Government of India.
In April 2017, Sethi informed that they have decided to sue the BCCI for failing to honour an agreement to play a bilateral series.
In December, he had revealed that the PCB had suffered a loss of 200 million dollars because of India's refusal to play the promised series against Pakistan.
While the BCCI has repeatedly snubbed Pakistan's request for resumption of ties, the PCB wants the Indian cricket board to honour its commitment of six series between 2015-2023 under the MoU signed, which is subjected to clearance from the Government of India.
Despite not playing a full-fledged bilateral series against Pakistan since the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai, the arch-rivals have played each other a number of times in the ICC events, with the most recent coming at the 2016 ICC T20 World Cup.
Although, Pakistan toured India for a short series in December 2012.