Former ICC and PCB President Ehsan Mani has provided a blunt look behind the curtain of current India-Pakistan stalemate. In a recent interview with Hindustan Times Digital, the 80-year-old veteran argued that while the “government order” is the official reason, the true catalyst is a breakdown in personal relationships and an “attitude change” within the BCCI.
He pointed out that India’s refusal to tour Pakistan for Champions Trophy, a decision taken on Indian government advice, sets an important precedent. Given that context, Mani suggested it would be difficult to penalise Pakistan for acting under similar circumstances.
“You’ve got to look at the background to this. I don’t think the PCB chairman was happy with the Indian players’ refusal to shake hands with the Pakistani players at the Asia Cup, then their refusal to take their trophy from him. You’ve really got to look at the whole picture; it’s not a good relationship between the countries, which is sad, because we always worked very closely with BCCI, and their attitudes have changed significantly,” Mani told Hindustan Times Digital.
“PCB is simply going to say it’s following government instructions, the same as India did for refusing to come to Pakistan in the last ICC event. And this is all very unfortunate. I do hope that the chairman of ICC, after all, he represents all the countries, including Pakistan, is talking to Pakistan to see how they can overcome Pakistan’s position. In fact, he should be engaging not only with PCB but also with the government of Pakistan. As I did prior to India’s 2004 tour, I came to India and met government ministers. And we worked out understanding where India would go to Pakistan. So, that’s the responsibility of the ICC chairman, and I hope that Mr Jay Shah is doing that.”
Since Pakistan government’s announcement, speculation has grown that ICC could take action against Pakistan, raising concerns about the long-term implications for the country’s cricketing future. Ehsan Mani acknowledged that PCB could face complications with official broadcasters, JioStar, but stressed that imposing sanctions would not be straightforward.
“PCB has certainly signed a member’s participation agreement. But they will argue and hold the position that it is legally reasonable to follow the government’s instructions, as BCCI did. Sanctioning Pakistan for what? The first thing is that there will be a claim against ICC by the broadcaster. Then the broadcaster agreement will have to be examined very carefully to see whether there is a commitment by BCCI to have Pakistan-India matches in the first round,” Mani argued.
“In my time, there wasn’t ever the case. And secondly, what is the value attributed in the agreement, if any, to the different matches? In my time, all matches were treated equally, whether it was Zimbabwe, India, or Pakistan. So, there are a lot of factors that will come into play. It will not be a simple matter of sanctioning the PCB. The Pakistan board would have a very strong defence, I would have thought.”
“If I had been chairman, which I am not, I would have first spoken to the chairman of the PCB, chairman to chairman, and understood the situation before issuing a statement. There has to be direct communication between the chairman of ICC and the member country,” said Mani.
