No discussion on India-Pakistan cricket matches in near future: Rahul Johri

Bilateral cricket between India and Pakistan have suffered due the volatile political atmosphere and BCCI CEO Rahul Johri said the issue wasn’t discussed during the Asian Cricket Council summit in Colombo.

The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) meeting in Colombo on Saturday ended without a discussion on India-Pakistan meeting anytime soon.

Chief executive Rahul Johri (R) with BCCI President Anurag Thakur at a news conference. (PTI)

While the BCCI has taken a stand to not play Pakistan in any bilateral tournament till cross-border tension eases, the two boards were expected to talk about facing each other in a triangular or quadrangular tournament.

“There was no discussion on that (India-Pakistan match),” BCCI’s chief executive Rahul Johri, who attended the meeting with BCCI president Anurag Thakur, told HT on Sunday.

“The discussion took place on how to make the next Asia Cup (in 2018) bigger. There is some time to go for it though. All the Boards CEOs will come back with their plans on how to increase revenue, potential of the Asia Cup and of the ACC overall. All four (CEOs) will work together. (Pakistan Cricket Board’s CEO) Subhan (Ahmad) will lead it,” said Johri.

Thakur had reportedly floated an idea to PCB officials to play a triangular or quadrangular series.

The BCCI is due to play Pakistan in a bilateral series as per agreed terms, but political tensions have affected cricketing ties.

“There was a lot of concern shown by the ACC boards about the BCCI. One of the things they reacted to was the treatment meted to the BCCI by the ICC. The ACC members were keen that the BCCI’s interest should not be harmed. If the BCCI is affected, global cricket is affected. Everybody is dependent on India.

“All cricket boards plan their calendar in advance. If the BCCI’s share goes down, then the BCCI’s long-term plans of developing the game would be impacted. When that gets impacted, there is a cascading effect on other boards. They (ACC members) have also communicated their views to the ICC,” said Johri.