BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur recently ruled out any possibility of India-Pakistan series. (Source: File)
Former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ijaz Butt has said that the present PCB set-up should stop wasting its time trying to organise a series against India as “it would never happen”.
“It is a waste of time. It is never going to happen because the Indian board is not interested in playing against us. They use the excuse of their government’s permission all the time to not play us,” Butt told PTI.
Butt, a former Test batsman and a controversial figure in Pakistan cricket particularly when he was PCB chairman from 2008 to 2012, was clear in his mind that the Indian board, BCCI, would not play Pakistan in December.
“The Indians playing us at an offshore venue is out of the question. The truth is they don’t want to play us. When I was chairman we even offered to play our home series in India if we got to keep the revenues but they flatly refused,” he recalled.
Butt said that the Indian board’s decision to not play Pakistan was due to the seething relations and bad blood between the two countries since independence.
“We may talk about friendship all the time, the fact is the Indian cricket officials have always tried to hurt us in every way possible. Ethically they owe us at least two home series but they will not play even now,” Butt said.
He noted that for no other series does the BCCI needs to involve its government except for Pakistan.
“It is nothing but a delaying tool and our board should not waste their energy and time. Pakistan cricket has shown despite so many problems since the last few years that it can stand and survive on its own feet.”
The former PCB chief pointed out that the Indians had shown their true feelings about Pakistan cricket and players by constantly ignoring them in the IPL since 2008.
“There have been so many incidents in recent times where the Indians have treated our sportsmen or women unjustly and been violent but we have tolerated and we still talk about revival of bilateral series. It is a waste of time.”
He advised the PCB to be clear about its stance on relations with India.
“The Indians always wanted to control world cricket and now they are doing that with the help of Australia and England in the ICC. They control the finances now. Which is why despite everything N Srinivasan remains the chairman of the world body.”
Butt, in whose tenure the 2010 spot fixing scandal took place and militants attacked the Sri Lankan team in Lahore, also ruled out the chances of the PCB launching the Pakistan Super League T20 event.
“The PSL is a very costly project and you can only hope to recover the money if the top players of the world come to play in the PSL and I don’t see that happening for many reasons. So I don’t see the league being held.”
Ian Bell (65) and Joe Root (38) helped England chase the 121-run total with ease on Friday. (Source: Reuters)
Ian Bell guided England to an eight-wicket victory over Australia in the third Test at Edgbaston on Friday to put the hosts 2-1 up in the series with two matches to play.
Bell (65 not out) and Joe Root, with an unbeaten 38, anchored the chase after England were set to 121 to win on the third day at Edgbaston where a dominant performance banished memories of a heavy defeat at Lord’s.
England lost Alastair Cook (7) and Adam Lyth (12) to set a few nerves on edge but Bell, dropped on 20 by Australia captain Michael Clarke, made his second 50 of the match to spark raucous celebrations after Root hit the winning runs.
Victory at either Trent Bridge, in the fourth Test which starts on Aug. 6, or The Oval in the last match would guarantee England winning back the Ashes which they so dismally surrendered in a 5-0 loss in Australia in 2013-14.
England’s celebrations will be tempered, however, by the major blow of losing leading bowler James Anderson for the fourth Test, and possibly the rest of the series, the paceman ruled out with a side strain.
Anderson, who took six for 47 in Australia’s first innings as the tourists were skittled for 136 on the first day, aborted his run and walked straight off the pitch in the evening session on Thursday.
Australia’s tail wagged on Friday, adding 97 to their overnight total before they were dismissed for 265 just before lunch.
England had hoped to quickly take the three remaining second-innings wickets but Australia pushed their lead to 120 before Moeen Ali removed Mitchell Starc.
Starc had led Australia’s resistance with some big hits in his 58, sharing an eighth-wicket stand of 64 with wicketkeeper Peter Nevill (59) who held up England for 147 balls in compiling a maiden Test half-century.
Steven Finn eventually made the breakthrough when Nevill was caught down the leg side, the paceman taking a Test best 6-79 on his recall after a two-year absence.
Sachin Tendulkar sought blessings from his childhood coach Ramakant Achrekar on Friday. (Source: Facebook)
Sachin Tendulkar met and paid respect to his childhood coach Ramakant Achrekar on Friday on the auspicious occasion of ‘Guru Purnima.’
“Sought blessings of my Guru on this auspicious day – A happy #GuruPurnima to all,” posted Sachin, along with some pictures, on his Facebook page.
Sought blessings of my Guru on this auspicious day – A happy #GuruPurnima to all pic.twitter.com/iR9b5zfCjw
— sachin tendulkar (@sachin_rt) July 31, 2015
Achrekar played a pivotal role in grooming a young Sachin and the latter credits him for all the success.
Part of the World Cup winning squad in 2011, Ashwin has represented India in 24 Tests and 97 ODIs. (Source: PTI)
Ravichandran Ashwin was awarded the Arjuna Award on Friday by the Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal. The honour was conferred on the offie last year.
The 28-year-old was unable to attend the ceremony held at the Rashtrapati Bhawan on August 29, 2014 as he was part of the Indian cricket team which was touring England.
“The journey has been pretty good so far. I have been very lucky, in a lot of aspects I thank God for that. To a greater degree I just played for the country and felt that I was very lucky and then to be conferred the Arjuna award today (on Friday) from the Sports Minister is a big honour. I hope I serve the country in a better fashion and get more awards,” Ashwin told the reporters.
Part of the World Cup winning squad in 2011, Ashwin has represented India in 24 Tests and 97 ODIs.
