India want to play Pakistan: PCB managing director Wasim Khan

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) managing director Wasim Khan is not confident about resumption of India-Pakistan bilateral cricket anytime soon but he has suggested a change in strategy to get the two nations playing.

Wasim said that the PCB needs to create a situation where India ask Pakistan to play while adding that they need to move forward as they could not wait forever to play India.

“It’s a massive challenge and I don’t think we’re going to see any solutions anytime soon. I think elections are coming up in India, so nothing is going to happen in the near future. But, we are trying and [PCB chairman] Ehsan Mani is trying hard to get them to the table and get things moving,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Wasim, as saying.

“We keep on asking them to play us but let’s create a situation where they ask us to play. I think we need to do that. It’s sad that we are not playing against them but life continues. We need to move forward and carry on. We can’t wait forever to play India. Our focus is to develop Pakistan cricket and get our team and players a lot of success at the international level,” he added.

The PCB had filed a complaint against the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for not playing the bilateral series between 2015 and 2023 despite signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The International Cricket Council (ICC) had, however, dismissed the case.

Mani said that there is no point engaging with India on the matter till the general elections. He added that if Pakistan succeeded in registering their name among top three cricket teams of the world then India would come on their own to play against them.