Shashank Manohar apologises to Shahryar Khan after cancelled talks

Shashank Manohar has apologised to Shahryar Khan about the cancellation of their meeting

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Shashank Manohar has apologised to his Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) counterpart Shahryar Khan after the proposed talks between India and Pakistan to resume cricketing ties were cancelled last week.

According to a report on IBN Live, Manohar wrote to the PCB Chairman to express his apology for cancelling the highly anticipated meeting. The meeting had to be cancelled because of protests by Shiv Sena activists, who stormed into the BCCI office in Mumbai and confronted Manohar.

The PCB Chairman along with Najam Sethi, head of the PCB Executive Committee had come to India to discuss possibilities of conducting a bilateral series in the month of December in Pakistan's ‘adopted home’ – the UAE.

The PCB officials also wanted to discuss the likelihood of Indian players being sent to play in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) which is to be played during the month of February.

Shiv Sena workers made their way to the BCCI office on the morning of the meeting and shouted slogans against Pakistan, asking Manohar not to be involved in any ties with Pakistan.

The demonstration by the political activists forced the BCCI to cancel the talks and thus put the relationship between the countries in more jeopardy. Earlier this week, the PCB had been pondering on whether they should send the Pakistan Cricket Team to India for the 2016 T20 World Cup.

Khan had complained about being left in the dark for more than a day after the cancellation. He also said suggested that the BCCI did not care by not trying to reschedule the meeting.

However, Sethi had a contrasting view of the events that followed the cancellation and said that the BCCI was in touch with the PCB officials throughout and updated them on all that ensued.

In the letter to Khan, Manohar has mentioned that the BCCI would ask guidance from the Indian government on whether the bilateral series planned for December should go ahead as proposed.

Earlier this year, the BCCI and the PCB had reached a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to play 12 Tests, 30 ODIs and 11 T20Is between 2015 and 2023. Pakistan were to ‘host’ four of the six proposed series, with the two others being played in India.

This new development of the Manohar sending an apology letter to the PCB probably gives a glimmer of hope in rebuilding the relationship between the two cricketing nations, and possibly working towards an effective solution that helps resume cricket ties.