KARACHI: Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) representatives on Thursday turned down the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) proposal of adopting the “partnership formula” for the next three years as part of efforts of breaking the ongoing deadlock between the two parties over next year’s ICC Champions Trophy, sources have revealed.

With the BCCI having unofficially communicated to the tournament orga­nisers International Cricket Council (ICC) last month about the Indian government’s refusal to allow the country’s cricket team to visit host Pakistan, a hybrid model was reported to have been agreed upon earlier this week.

The model, in its originality would have seen India play their Champions Trophy matches at a neutral venue, while the rest of the tournament is held in Pakistan. The PCB, however, had added a tit-for-tat condition to it; Paki­stan would also play their matches at neutral venues when India host an ICC tournament in the future — it being dubbed as the “partnership formula”.

PCB initially wanted the condition to be applied until the end of the current Future Tours Programme cycle of the ICC, which culminates with the 2031 Cri­cket World Cup. With the BCCI disagreeing to it, its Pakistan counterpart proposed the same for the next three years.

On Thursday, just ahead of yet anot­her scheduled ICC board meeting in Dubai to resolve the issue, PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi, who was in the emirate, had made an enquiry if the BCCI would agree with the latest proposition.

With the answer in negative, Mohsin de­c­ided there was no purpose behind engaging and hence the meeting was postponed, further delaying clarity over the fate of the Champions Trophy, which is sch­e­duled to be held in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi from Feb 19-Mar 9 next year.

Amid political tensions between the two neighbours, the BCCI has stood firm by the Indian government’s policy of not engaging with Pakistan in terms of bilateral cricket over the years.

However, after having played the last bilateral series against each other in 2012, Pakistan and India have competed in ICC tournaments and the Asia Cup. Pakistan, in fact, visited India to feature in the ICC World Cup last year.

The visit, if anything, heightened expectations of India returning the favo­ur by touring Pakistan for the Cha­m­pions Trophy. But with that not being a realistic possibility and the hybrid model established as the only way out, the PCB wants things to be done “equal terms” as Mohsin said last week.

The Champions Trophy issue has coincided with BCCI secretary Jay Shah taking charge as the ICC president on Dec 1. It is understood that Shah, son of Indian home minister Amit — a key leader of the Hindu nationalist BJP, the country’s ruling party — tried his best to delay his arrival to office until the deadlock between the Pakistan and India’s cricket representatives was broken. The issue, however, continued.

Sources said the PCB has come to realise its role in the ICC’s politics and is playing all its cards to “bring India to the breaking point”. Meanwhile, however, broadcasters are pressurising the ICC to release the Champions Trophy schedule, with the tournament less than three months away.

Published in Dawn, December 6th, 2024