Lahore, Oct 19 (IANS) The cricket fraternity in Pakistan on Monday slammed the Shiv Sena protest against a proposed meeting between Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Shashank Manohar and PCB chief Shahryar Khan in Mumbai and demanded action by the International Cricket Council (ICC).
The two cricket officials were scheduled to have a meeting at the BCCI’s headquarters, but a group of around 70 Shiv Sena protestors barged in and forced the cancellation of the talks.
“Unfortunately, the trio of India, England and Australia has created a problem for cricket. If India wants a respectful solution to this problem, they should come to a third country and play the series but cricket should not end between both the countries,” Express News quoted former ace spinner Abdul Qadir as saying.
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shahryar Khan was optimistic despite the incident, saying that “I was invited by Shashank here and the mindset is that we have signed an agreement and we should honour it”.
Former PCB chairman Tauqir Zia believed India wanted to isolate Pakistan, even in cricket.
“There is nothing bad in having a dialogue but we should stop pleading. The Indian government wants to isolate Pakistan as a country and they are not agreeing to play cricket for the same reason,” said Tauqir Zia.
Meanwhile, ICC president Zaheer Abbas was not happy to hear of the developments either, but opined that the world body would not be able to take notice against such an incident. ICC Chief Executive Officer Dave Richardson, however, condemned the Shiv Sena attack.