BCCI likely to face legal action if India does not play Pakistan

New Delhi: The Board of Control fro Cricket in India (BCCI) is likely to face take legal action from Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) if India fail to play the proposed bilateral series in Sri Lanka.

Shaharyar Khan, the chairman of PCB, on Wednesday said that all hopes for a bilateral series with arch-rivals India had been gone after India's Minister of External Affairs ​Sushma Swaraj​'s visit to Islamabad failed to yield any breakthrough.

And with that, reports of the PCB mooting a legal course has started doing the rounds in Indian media. As apprehensive as it may sound, the BCCI is waiting for a clearance from the Indian government to play Pakistan.

But, as of now, there is no definitive indication from the Indian government on the matter, though many have already concluded that the series is not happening.

Here, it's worth noting that, Shaharyar Khan had previously threatened to take the legal action if India back out of the series.

“Nothing is final or decided as yet but if the Indian Board officially backs out of the series, then we have the option of boycotting all matches against them in ICC and ACC events as well,” Khan was quoted as saying by ‘Express’ newspaper in September.

Khan added, “I sent the letter on 28 August and I am still waiting for a reply. They (the BCCI) should tell us whether they want to play the series or not. Because if they say they don’t have government clearance and refuse to play the series, then we reserve the right to act against the Indian Board for not honoring an agreement at every level."

After much parleys, the two cricket boards last month agreed to play a short limited over series of three one-day and two Twenty20 internationals in Sri Lanka. PCB already received go ahead signal from their government to the series on November 26, but the BCCI have been awaiting clearance from New Delhi ever since.