PCB willing to wait rather than take the Indian Board head-on over the Pakistan tour.
MUMBAI: Ejaz Butt has a reputation of being a no-nonsense and hot-headed administrator in the Pakistan cricket circle. A successful businessman, the 70-year-old chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was, however, ‘extra hot’ recently.
When he was caught by the TV cameras at the Lahore Airport, he did not try to hide his exasperation.
“I will call a news conference and talk about my discussions with the Indian Board authorities,” a frustrated Butt told the waiting journalists at the Lahore Airport the other night. But he has not spoken to the media yet. He has kept his phone off since his return from India.
For the record, the PCB has been maintaining that it was waiting for an official word from the Board of Control for Cricket in India although Pakistan media is awash with reports that the tour is off. One daily, in fact, quoted an Indian High Commission official that the New Delhi is not even willing to send a security team to Pakistan.
Meanwhile, the PCB has asked its members not to give any statements on the India tour. Even the loquacious Javed Miandad, known for high decibel rhetoric when it comes to India, has been told to keep quite on the tour.
But sources say the PCB was willing to wait rather than take the Indian Board head-on. “We want the atmosphere to cool down a bit. Then we can talk about cricket. At this stage we understand cricket is not possible,” a very highly placed PCB official said. He was not willing to discuss if there would be any fallout on the long-term relations between the two boards particularly on IPL and the 2011 World Cup.
PCB, one learns, has discussed the option of stopping its players from taking part in the BCCI’s Indian Premier League but has realised it would be an unpopular move. Starved of international cricket, it would risking the ire of the players who can earn handsome money by playing the tournament.
“It is an interesting question. We will take a call soon,” Salim Altaf, PCB’s chief operating officer, told DNA. He is one of the PCB officials given the liberty to talk on India. The other official, of course, is chairman Butt himself.
The most important issue is that of the 2011 World Cup, which the two boards along with Cricket Sri Lanka and Bangladesh Cricket Board, have been asked to host. No official, from either side of the LoC, is willing to discuss on the matter stating the World Cup is more than two years away.
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