Won't play bilateral series with Pakistan without govt.'s consent, reiterates BCCI

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) official Rajeev Shukla on Monday reiterated that India will not play any bilateral series with Pakistan without getting consent from the central government.

"We had a talk with Vijay Goel. And it is very clear that we will play against Pakistan only in the ICC tournaments," Shukla told ANI.

India will face arch-rivals Pakistan in the Champions Trophy encounter to be played at Edgbaston on June 4.

"But we are not playing any bilateral series with Pakistan unless we get a nod from the government," he insisted.

Earlier in the day, Union Sports Minister Vijay Goel asserted that there cannot be a bilateral series between India and Pakistan until there is terrorism from the Pakistani side.

"BCCI should come out with a proposal on Pakistan only after consultations with the government. I have already made it clear that any bilateral series with Pakistan is almost impossible because there cannot be sports relations between the two countries until there is terrorism from the Pakistani side," Goel said while talking to reporters.

"Sports and terrorism cannot go hand in hand," he added.

Supporting the Sports Minister's views, Shukla said, "I completely support the Union Minister's views."

BCCI acting secretary Amithabh Chaudhry, along with the members of the Supreme Court appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA), will today meet Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shaharyar Khan in Dubai.

The PCB had earlier this month sent a legal notice to its Indian counterpart for failing to honour the MoU signed between the two cricket boards in 2014.

The PCB had also demanded compensation close to USD 60 million from the BCCI for not honouring the MoU signed when N. Srinivasan was at the helm of affairs in the Indian board.

According to the 2014 agreement, India were scheduled to play six series against Pakistan , four of them were going to be Pakistan's home series, subject to clearance from the Government of India.

The two Asian neighbours have not played a full bilateral series after the Mumbai terror attacks in November 2008.