Let us play Pakistan early: BCCI

Should South Block be unwilling to send Saurav Ganguly’s team across the Wagah — Islamist groups in Pakistan remain a security concern — the Pakistan Cricket Board has suggested a neutral venue, provided Pakistan is considered the notional host and holds the commercial rights.

It has pointed out two post-9/11 precedents to its Indian counterpart. In January-February 2002, the West Indies refused to tour Pakistan and played test matches in neutral Sharjah. In October that year, Australia took on Pakistan in Colombo and Sharjah. In both cases, Pakistan was considered the host.

Playing India, of course, is far more crucial to the financial well-being of the PCB. Cricket industry sources estimate the total revenues (television, in-stadia rights and so on) from the proposed early 2004 series could add up to $ 10 million. The other big gainer will be Sheikh Abdur Rehman Bukhatir, the Sharjah cricket baron, whose Ten Sports channel holds the rights to all cricket hosted by Pakistan.

Bukhatir’s Cricketers’ Benefit Fund Series (CBFS) runs cricket played in Sharjah and Tangiers in Morocco. Both venues are under consideration as possible neutral venues. The spanking new but untested Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, promoted by a consortium of UAE-based Pakistani businessmen, is also in contention. Colombo too has been discussed.

Incidentally, the Indian government’s three-year ban on the national team playing at ‘‘irregular’’ cricket venues — Sharjah, Singapore, Toronto — expires in March 2004. Speaking to The Indian Express, a Union Minister said, ‘‘It’s unlikely we will agree to play at a neutral venue. We don’t believe in the third party principle, whether in politics or in cricket.’’ Even so, he did not rule out a tour of Pakistan in early 2004.

S K Nair, BCCI secretary, insisted the ball was firmly in the political court. ‘‘We will be guided entirely by the Government, in terms of when and where we play, whether directly or at neutral venues.’’ He did add though that the Indian team’s schedule meant no free dates ‘‘before February-March 2004.’’

It’s understood BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya’s letters to the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, detailing the proposal, have been forwarded to the Ministry of External Affairs.

A decision is expected in early June. Lobbying hard on the BCCI’s behalf is a Congress MP-cum-cricket official. Right now Dalmiya and friends in the PCB, not to speak of the sheikh in Sharjah, are keeping their fingers crossed.