Whether or not the proposed India-Pakistan match does take place in Abu Dhabi next month, it seems that officials of the Abu Dhabi Cricket Control Board (ADCCB) are here on a wild goose chase. The BCCI hasn’t changed its stand of not sanctioning the match and its chief Jagmohan Dalmiya has refused to meet the officials from the Gulf country.The match, supposedly to inaugurate the Zayed International Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi, may be converted into a veterans’ tie, ADCCB officials told The Indian Express today.The ADCCB officials — president BR Shetty and secretary Ravi Pandit — say they had assurances from the cricketers. ‘‘We met during the Rawalpindi Test and four Indian cricketers gave us a confirmation along with 14 Pakistan cricketers’’, Pandit says. ‘‘So we thought everything was confirmed and that’s why we held the press conference in Abu Dhabi where we announced the match.’’Former India captain Ajit Wadekar acted as what Shetty calls ‘‘the go-between’’, introducing the two parties. Wadekar, when contacted by this paper, refused to get into details of his involvement in the issue but did say, ‘‘Both Pandit and Shetty are old friends and I did introduce them to the Indian cricketers in Pindi. But that’s all. How can I coordinate matters? I am not in any position of authority or responsibility in the BCCI.’’Not that it would help, going by the BCCI’s response. ‘‘I tried speaking to Dalmiya after coming here but he refused to speak to me on the matter’’, says Shetty. ‘‘I then spoke to S K Nair, the BCCI secretary, but he also couldn’t give me anything specific.’’Dalmiya, when contacted, said, ‘‘I don’t know anything about this and I don’t have any appointments with any Abu Dhabi official. There won’t be any match.’’ Nair was more forthcoming. ‘‘We have not given any sanction to the match, simply because there was no official application from Abu Dhabi. Unless things are done in a formal way, we can’t give permission. Everyone wants to host India-Pakistan matches. It is good for everyone but we have to regulate these things.’’Are the players bound to take the BCCI’s permission? Indian cricketers are allowed 20 days every year to play benefit and exhibition matches, says Shetty, pointing out that this match was being slotted in the off-season.Nair has a counter-argument: Yes, the players can play benefit matches but for that the Board has to be notified by the players and by the organisers. ‘‘We also need to see why we are playing, what is the motive behind the match. We need to know all this, and in good time. We can’t just grant permission like that, afterwards we will be held responsible.’’There is one grey area which is possibly at the back of the BCCI’s mind: its own recommendation — after the match-fixing scandal broke out — that no matches should be allowed in ‘non-regular’ venues. At the time, centres like Sharjah and Toronto came under the ambit of non-regular venues.Does Abu Dhabi fall in that category? That may be the exit line the BCCI is looking for to end this issue. Then again, Dalmiya may yet turn around and give the green signal. Stranger things have happened in Indian cricket.
