DHAKA: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Najam Sethi sounds upbeat that Pakistan and India can play a short bilateral series after the Indian Premier League (IPL) this summer.

“With India now deciding to host IPL matches in the UAE it is a good sign for us as we can also play India at these venues if they don’t want to tour Pakistan,” Sethi told reporters here on Sunday.

Sethi is in Dhaka to not only watch the World T20 matches but also meet with other board officials including from India.

Pakistan are not scheduled to play any international cricket after the ongoing World T20 until October this year and Sethi said there were windows available for a series with India.

The PCB chief also disclosed that due to the refusal of teams to play in Pakistan since 2009, the PCB had suffered the loss of annual earnings of around $10 million. He added that the board was looking at ways to recoup at shortfall which was badly hurting the board’s financial health.

“We are working fast track on having the Super League T20 soon even if we have to organise it in the UAE because this is one way of improving our financial health,” Sethi added.

“Given the current situation it looks like we will have to hold the Super League in the UAE and we would like to have the semi-finals and final at Lahore,” Sethi said.—Agencies