Pakistan, India cricket officials to meet next month: source

KARACHI: Cricket officials from Pakistan and India will meet on December 17 in Colombo, Sri Lanka to discuss the strained and suspended bilateral cricket between the two neighbours, a source within the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said on Monday.

The PCB official, who requested anonymity, said the meeting would be held during the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) meet in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

PCB Chairman Shaharyar Khan, who is also the Chairman of the ACC will be accompanied by Najam Sethi and Subhan Ahmad in the meeting, he said.

Of late, Najam Sethi, during the ICC executive board meeting, met with the president of Indian cricket board Anurag Thakur in Capetown. He proposed a triangular or quadrangular series.

Thakur said it was not possible for them to play Pakistan in a bilateral series as their government didn't support this.

The BCCI chief, however, suggested that instead a multi-nation tournament could be organised in India or at any neutral venue, in which Pakistan and India could play against each other.

The source said further that Sethi had reminded Thakur that although he was floating such an idea but at present India was even talking about not playing Pakistan in the group stages of the ICC Champions Trophy.

Later, the PCB decided to wait until December 17 to see in which direction the Pak-India cricket relations head, before using legal recourse to seek compensation from India or ICC due to the BCCI's refusal to play bilateral series with Pakistan since 2007.

It was at the Capetown meeting that Pakistan asked the ICC to give a ruling on India's refusal to send its women's team to Dubai for the ICC cricket league to play against Pakistan.

However, after ruling that India has forfeited the series which was to be hosted by Pakistan, the ICC technical committee has now awarded six points to Pakistan for the series.