For cricket fans in the subcontinent, September 19 will be the most anticipated date. Defending champions India will face arch rivals Pakistan as per the Asia Cup schedule released on Tuesday evening. However, a cloud of uncertainty hovers over the India-Pakistan match with the cricket boards of both the countries locked in a dispute over the bilateral series that was scheduled to take place between 2015 and 2022.
“There is uncertainty still. India will play Pakistan in Asia Cup―the same has been conveyed to PCB officials on the sidelines of the ICC meeting held in Dublin in June. BCCI doesn't play with those in dispute with it,” a senior BCCI official said.
Interestingly, though, India was to host the 2018 edition of the Asia Cup but the tournament was shifted to the UAE because of doubts over Pakistan cricket team's chances of getting requisite permissions to play in India. The Board of Control for Cricket in India had taken a similar stance ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy in 2017 when office bearers had made it clear that India's participation was not a surety. The Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) had to intervene to assure the players that India would indeed play.
India and Pakistan had reached the finals of the Champions Trophy in which Pakistan emerged victorious. This was the last time the two traditional rivals had played each other in men's cricket.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has constituted a three-member conflict resolution committee after the Pakistan Cricket Board took the matter to it. The three-day hearing is scheduled for October. The BCCI has always maintained that the said Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the two boards was not “legal” paper and that India is bound by the government's decision when it comes to playing a bilateral series against Pakistan. As of now, any matches between the two nations need government clearance other than those where the two come face to face in multi-nation events such as the ICC Cricket World Cup, Champions Trophy etc.
With the Supreme Court order on the Lodha Committee reforms expected to be out soon, BCCI members are also saying that the PCB's adamant stand may not be treated lightly thereafter.
The PCB had sent the BCCI a USD 70 million Notice of Dispute for breaching the 2014 MoU signed when N. Srinivasan was at the helm of the ICC. The BCCI did not respond to the notice and the PCB took the matter to the Dispute Redressal Committee.