The Chief of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Zaka Ashraf, is eager to arrange a bilateral series against India in the near future. In order to investigate potential and fortify cricket connections between the neighboring nations, he met with prominent dignitaries and the secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Jay Shah, during the ODI World Cup 2023. But nothing tangible came of it.
2013 saw the end of India’s and Pakistan’s bilateral series. Since that time, the two titans of cricket have only faced each other in international competitions like the Asia Cup and World Cups. Players from Pakistan were prohibited from participating in the Indian Premier League subsequent to the 2008 Mumbai tragedy.
PCB has worked very hard to host a bilateral series against India in the recent past, but BCCI has repeatedly turned it down. They have also refused to allow PCB to travel to Pakistan for the Asia Cup in 2023, with the second leg of the competition being held in Sri Lanka instead. According to Zaka Ashraf, official approval is the only thing standing in the way of the two boards playing against each other.
According to Ashraf, “Both boards are willing to play each other in the India-Pakistan series as long as there is government clearance.”
Zaka Ashraf talked candidly about enhancing ties with Cricket Australia.
The Pakistan Cricket Board is actively attempting to fortify its ties with Cricket Australia, according to Ashraf. He said that Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, the prime minister, is also aware of the situation and that they are willing to collaborate for their mutual gain.
“Earlier, we discussed it with the Prime Minister, who urged us to fortify our ties with Australia because it would benefit Pakistani cricket.” We were already leaning this way at PCB. We had communicated with Cricket Australia before in India, and we wanted to continue that. We desired to collaborate with them for our mutual gain, stated Ashraf.
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