Debasis Sen, Kolkata: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Nazam Sethi will be arriving in Kolkata on Sunday to attend the week-long meeting of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in Kolkata from April 22-26. The PCB chairman will be accompanied by Chief Operating Officer (COO) Subhan Ahmad.
The PCB chief will be arriving in the city tomorrow from Delhi. It will be the first time that a PCB delegation will visit India since former PCB Chairman Shaharyar Khan and Nazam Sethi met BCCI President Shashank Manohar in October 2015 in Mumbai. But the meeting had to be cancelled due to threats from Shiv Sena.
Earlier Shaharyar Khan flew in to Kolkata in May 2015 to hold talks with the then Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president late Jagmohan Dalmiya regarding the resumption of bilateral cricketing ties between the two arch-rivals.
It is learnt the PCB Chairman will discuss the compensation they had sought against the BCCI for not fulfilling the India-Pakistan MoU.
The week long event will begin with members of the women’s wing meeting among themselves. The meeting for the Chief Executives will take place on April 23 & 24 respectively followed by Board of Directors meeting on April 25. The meeting of the marketing committee will take place on the final day i.e., April 26. The BCCI will be hosting a dinner on April 24. The day after ICC will also host a dinner for the members.
According to sources, the meeting is taking place in Kolkata due to the fact that the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has assured the Pakistan team all security during the ICC World Twenty 20 in 2016.
India have not played any bilateral series with Pakistan since the limited-overs series featuring two T20Is and three ODIs in India in 2012-13. The Twenty20 series was drawn while Pakistan won the ODIs 2-1.
India last met Pakistan in the ICC Champions Trophy last year – while India won their tournament opener, Pakistan took the honours in the final.
The two sides will again meet during the Asia Cup tournament in the United Arab Emirates in September. PCB was reluctant to send its team across to India. However, Pakistan had visited India for the 2016 World T20.
Asia Cup was scheduled to be hosted in India this year but after protests by Pakistan, the tournament was moved to UAE. The tournament will return to the 50-over format; in 2016, the tournament was played in the T20 format.
India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan will compete against each other. A qualifying round will be held to select the sixth team.