Mani accuses BCCI of isolating Pakistan

Ehsan Mani, who has been the President of the ICC in the past has said that the Indian cricket board is doing its utmost to isolate the Pakistani side. He has also said that it was because of BCCI that the Pakistan could not be one of the co-hosts for the World Cup 2011, and nor could they have their games on a neutral venue.

According to Mani, it was because of India’s fears that they would lose the tournament hosting rights, that they took exception to Pakistan’s chances of hosting the World Cup. Mani also accused the other boards of being scared on the Indian cricket board, with none of the others having the guts to stand up to them. He said, “Unfortunately, it is all about making money these days and the Indians dominate.”

Mani also said that the Indian did not want a neutral venue for the World Cup and they asked the agreement between Pakistan and the ICC for the same to be nullified. He added that Saleem Altaf’s presence instead of Ejaz Butt meant that somewhere down the line the decision to get a neutral country to host the tournament was nullified by the BCCI.

Mani then questioned about the political situation between the two countries being a cause for a worry. He said that he wondered what would happen if the situation between the neighbours did not improve in the near future and the Pakistani side did not get a green signal from the government to tour.

He asked a valid question, “Will Pakistan get permission to play its matches in India? Given the existing relations between the two countries, any untoward incident can trigger off more problems. Then is the ICC willing to organise the World Cup without Pakistan?”

There is a serious chance of no side touring Pakistan in the near future, and the 2010 series between Australia and Pakistan will be played in England. Lord’s and Leeds have already been earmarked as two of the venues for the series, and there will be a T20I as well.

Apparently, it has been because of Mani that the PCB threatened to initiate legal action against the ICC which was later settled out of court. Mani himself said that he had only given an opinion when asked, and was not the one responsible for that. The PCB will now retain all its staging money and will also get some more money from the ICC as compensation.