ISLAMABAD: Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary, Anurag Thakur, has said that the Indian cricket team would not play any series with Pakistan as the country has "given shelter" to underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and it wants to meet Kashmiri leaders during the (now cancelled) national security advisers-level talks, said a report published on the NDTV sports website.

Also read: NSAs’ talks cancelled over Indian conditions

India has routinely accused Pakistan of providing shelter to one of India’s most wanted fugitives.

In response, Pakistan routinely denies charges that it shelters Dawood Ibrahim ever since the don became a fugitive for his alleged role in the serial bomb blasts that hit Mumbai in 1993 in apparent retaliation for the demolition of the Babri Masjid in December 1992. Dawood stands convicted in absentia in India for the blasts, together with several Mumbai accomplices.

Thakur, who is also a Member of Parliament from India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in a strongly-worded tweet on Saturday mocked Pakistan's desire to play cricket with India as tensions between the two countries run high.

India and Pakistan were scheduled to play a series in the UAE in December, however, with Thakur's latest statement, the series is not expected to take place.

Thakur had said last month that the series between Pakistan and India was unlikely until relations between the two countries normalised.

Also read: India-Pakistan series unlikely under prevailing tension: BCCI

India have not played a bilateral Test series against Pakistan since 2007, though they did host them for two T20Is and three ODIs between December 2012 and January 2013.

Opinion

Editorial

Words that wound
Updated 18 Jun, 2026

Words that wound

Hate speech rarely begins with physical attacks.
‘New urban province’
18 Jun, 2026

‘New urban province’

CONSIDERING the advance state of urban decay that affects Karachi, voices are often raised calling for the megacity,...
Punjab budget: mixed bag
18 Jun, 2026

Punjab budget: mixed bag

PUNJAB’S budget for FY27 is a mix of good and bad political choices, with a cash-strapped centre tightening the...
Spoiler alert
17 Jun, 2026

Spoiler alert

AFTER the temporary peace deal between the US and Iran is physically signed in Geneva on Friday, an arduous process...
Storm-tested cities
17 Jun, 2026

Storm-tested cities

THE deaths caused by the latest spell of monsoon rains in KP and Punjab illustrate how quickly severe weather can...
Chakwal tragedy
17 Jun, 2026

Chakwal tragedy

A NINE-year-old girl is dead because a Punjab Crime Control Department gunman mistook her family’s car for a...