New Delhi: The Pakistan Cricket Board is expecting to leverage its support for the India-sponsored revamp of world cricket to ensure that it gets a series of bilateral engagements that will see the two subcontinental neighbours play each other six times over the next eight years.
This shift in the PCB’s initial opposition to the International Cricket Council revamp mooted jointly by the cricket boards of India, England and Australia apparently hinges on the BCCI agreeing to three “home and away” series each between 2015 and 2023, a cricket website has claimed. Part of the “deal” that comes under the new Future Tours Programme will be a home series for Pakistan in West Asia, where they have been forced to play most of their international cricket thanks to the political and security situation at home. It also includes other bilateral series against all ICC full members.
The Indian cricket board is expected to confirm the offer to the PCB at its next working committee meeting later this month, after which the PCB will be in a position to negotiate for television rights over the long-term period, estimated to be worth around three billion Pakistani rupees.
In the report, ESPN-cricinfo’s Pakistan correspondent said the PCB’s opposition to suggestions recommending a remodelling of the ICC’s administrative structure and its revenue distribution rested on the argument that it was against the principle of “equality”. However, changes in the resolutions, as well as the possibility of playing India on a regular basis, persuaded the PCB to support the suggested changes.
