Karachi - The honour of hosting Pakistan-India cricket series went to Sri Lanka which was finalised as the venue for Pakistan’s ‘home’ series after an agreement was finally reached between the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) on Monday.
An official announcement is due at the end of this month after the boards get permission from their respective governments but according to a source present at the meeting, there will be no further deliberations on the venue of the much-awaited Pakistan-India series.
The meeting between PCB chief Shaharyar Khan and BCCI president Shashank Manohar on Sunday ended in a deadlock when the issue of the venue was raised. “Bangladesh and Sri Lanka were considered as the venues and finally it was agreed that Sri Lanka was the right choice to host the Indo-Pak series,” said the source.
The series, comprising three ODIs and two T20s, is expected to kick off on December 20, most likely in Pallekele or Colombo. “PCB can benefit from the Indo-Pak series in Sri Lanka by earning up to Rs3 billion ahead of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) in February next year,” revealed the source.
The newly-elected president of the BCCI Shashank Manohar, who is in Dubai to familiarise with the working of the International Cricket Council (ICC) as its new chairman, invited PCB Chairman Shaharyar Khan for a meeting at the ICC headquarters on Sunday.
The meeting was also attended by PCB Executive Committee head Najam Sethi and Giles Clarke, the president of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and the head of a task force formed to expedite the return of cricket to Pakistan.
Pakistan and India have not played a bilateral series since 2007. Under the MoU both the boards had agreed in 2014, six series were scheduled between 2015 and 2023, with four series to be hosted by Pakistan. But all series were subject to clearance from the respective governments. The December-January series comprises two Tests, five One-day Internationals and two Twenty20 Internationals but with time running out the series is likely to be shortened to limited over matches.
According to an official privy to the details of the meeting, a final decision on the series would be made by November 27. He added that dates and stadiums haven’t been chalked out yet but indicated the matches would be played towards the latter part of December to avoid washouts,” it said.
A Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) official said Khettarama and Pallekele were the likeliest venues to host the tour. It has rained almost daily in both Colombo and Kandy this month, but the weather is expected to clear towards the end of December. The northeast monsoon typically tapers off quicker in these cities than in Hambantota or Dambulla.
There is a potential clash since Khettarama is scheduled to host domestic T20 matches on December 23rd and 30th, but those games may be moved elsewhere. Pallekele’s schedule is wide open in the window for the Pakistan-India series.
Since Pakistan would play the host, the series would be broadcast by Ten Sports. No official from Ten was available for comment. Although no definite plans have been made yet, the Sri Lankan official said SLC would expect significant compensation for the use of their stadiums.