BCCI President Shashank Manohar hints at potential India-Pakistan series next year

Shashank Manohar will be replacing N. Srinivasan as ICC President

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Shashank Manohar, said that the board had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), for a two test and five ODI series. It was scheduled to begin in December.

Recently the two boards were supposed to meet and discuss about this series. However, when PCB chief Shaharyar Khan had come to Mumbai, the meeting could not be held. While talking about the series at the AGM yesterday, BCCI chief said, “We are committed to playing Pakistan in December. However, since it is not possible to play them in Pakistan or the UAE, we have to look at playing the series in Northern India in December.”

Shaharyar Khan is keen on this series but former Pakistan players have requested their board not to give a nod to the same as they feel BCCI is not serious about it. Shashank Manohar has always said that this series needs an approval not only from both the boards but government of both the countries.

Manohar was quoted saying, “To play against Pakistan we need to get government permission. So we need to speak to the government and abide by whatever decision the government takes. Should have something next year” Talking about chances of India playing any home series in December, he said at AGM press conference, “It all depends on what happens to the proposed India-Pakistan series. We have to get an appointment with the government first and then we will take a call.”

These two arch rivals of cricket have not played a Test series against each other since December 2007 and a ODI series since December 2012.

Key Points from the AGM:

BCCI president Shashank Manohar will be replacing current ICC chief N. Srinivasan, Sharad Pawar will become the alternative representative. Six new test venues have been declared- Rajkot, Pune, Indore, Vishakhapatnam, Dharamshala and Ranchi. Roger Binny and Rajinder Singh Hans have been removed from the Senior Selection Committee.

Venkatesh Prasad has replaced Connor Williams as the chairman of Junior Selection Committee. Disciplinary Committee for 2015-16 will have Shashank Manohar as chairman along with Jyotiraditya Scindia and Niranjan Shah as other members.

Cricket Association of Bengal’s president Sourav Ganguly has replaced Anil Kumble as the Technical Committee head. Nine cities chosen for two franchises of IPL 2016 and 2017 are Rajkot, Pune, Chennai, Vishakhapatnam, Cuttack, Ranchi, Nagpur, Indore and Dharamshala.

For the 2015-16 season, Ajinkya Rahane has been given Grade A contract whereas Suresh Raina has been moved down to Grade B.