Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Shahryar Khan on Thursday said that the board is ready to send the Pakistani cricket team to play a series in India despite security threats. "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," Khan maintained.
He added, "Even the International Cricket Council accepts that a series between Pakistan and India is the most important series in the cricketing world." "A series between Pakistan and India generates the most revenue, even the ICC accepts that," Khan said while addressing the media at Karachi Press Club on Thursday.
"We will keep our programmes as they are, but not playing a series against India does hurt our revenue generation," the PCB chairman added.
"No where in the contract that we signed with BCCI does it say that playing against Pakistan is subject to their government's permission," Khan reiterated, adding that India is yet to reply to Pakistan's latest letter about the matter.
Speaking of the three cricket greats who recently retired from international cricket, Khan said, "We have great plans for Younis Khan and Misbah ul Haq, I will not disclose them as yet, as we have to speak to the players first."
"We have offers for them at both domestic and national levels, but the ultimate decision will be theirs," he added. "I come from Karachi myself and I want cricket to return to my city," Khan said.
He added, "There have been no major terrorism incidents in the city in the past two years and we are working towards an inclusive strategy for Karachi."
"Be it Pakistan Super League or international cricket, we will make sure that major matches are played in Karachi, from where some of the best cricketers hail from," Khan said, adding that Karachi is Pakistan's largest city and will be given representation accordingly.
Pakistan happily played two consecutive series in Bangladesh, Khan said, "But we cannot play there for a third time without any reciprocation."
"I will sit down with the Bangladesh cricket management and try finding a solution to the problem in a healthy environment," he said, assuring that Pakistan remains interested in playing against Bangladesh, but would like to do it on terms that are beneficial to both sides.
Speaking of the ongoing spot-fixing investigation against Khalid Latif and Sharjeel Khan, Khan said, "These claims that PCB is applying pressure on these players to make a deal is false."
"There is a legal case against them and if admitting their mistake would benefit them, the board will always encourage its players to do so."
Giving the example of Mohammad Irfan, Khan said, "Irfan admitted to his mistake and said that he should have informed the board when the bookies approached him."
"The admittance only helped Irfan, not anyone else, and the board was happy to accept his confession," he added.
"He asked for forgiveness and it was granted along with a befitting punishment, and the same path is open to other players if they choose to take it," Khan said.
