India promised to play Pakistan in the past but have pulled out, says PCB chief Ehsan Mani

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman, Ehsan Mani recently clarified that the board is not dependent on India to help with funds despite Pakistan cricket reportedly suffering in terms of revenue.

Speaking in a podcast released by the PCB's media department, Mani also agreed that organising a bilateral series between India and Pakistan in the near future is doubtful.

“Right now we play against them (India) in ICC events and Asia Cup and that is okay because we are interested in playing cricket. We want to keep politics and sports apart,” said Mani.

Terming the BCCI as 'unreliable', Mani further added that playing India has not been discussed in the recent past, and stressed on Pakistan cricket's ability to individually survive without India's aid.

"India made promises to play but pulled out in the last moment"

The former ICC head also claimed that India have made 'false promises' to play Pakistan in the past but have not fulfilled those promises.

“I am clear if India doesn’t want to play we have to plan without them. Once or twice they have made promises to play against us but pulled out at the last moment,” he added.

Mani also shed light on the possible cancellation of the World T20 due to the coronavirus pandemic and claimed that the financial fallout will be enormous if the global event does get called off.

India and Pakistan last faced off in a bilateral series in 2008

Most recently, former Pakistan speedster, Shoaib Akhtar proposed the idea of organising a three-match ODI series between India and Pakistan to raise funds for the COVID-19 relief.

While Akhtar's concept was given a thumbs up by the likes of Ramiz Raja and Shahid Afridi, it was shot down by former India captain, Kapil Dev.

Earlier today, legendary Indian cricketer, Sunil Gavaskar shared his views on the possibly of an India-Pakistan series at a neutral venue. In a chat with Ramiz Raja, Gavaskar was of the opinion that organising the series is certainly not a feasible option in the foreseeable future.