LAHORE: Rajiv Shukla, the vice-president of BCCI and chief of the Indian Premier League (IPL), speaking to The Times of India in an interview on Monday talked about the Indian Board’s improved relations with its Pakistani counterpart, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), and asserted that the resumption of the bilateral series was only awaiting conducive environment.

Answering a question on the future of Indo-Pak cricket, Shukla acknowledged: “The BCCI shares a good rapport with the Pakistan Cricket Board. Whenever the atmosphere is conducive, we will play cricket with Pakistan.”

To another question, whether the Pakistani coaches attached with franchise will face any problems during the forthcoming sixth edition of the IPL, Shukla said: “Politics should be kept away from sports. As far as we are concerned, there won’t be any problems.”

Shukla’s statements are clearly indicative that the relations between the two Boards which were quite hostile during the Ijaz Butt tenure have indeed improved a great deal.

The current dispensation, with Zaka Ashraf as the PCB chairman, was quite open about its desire to do face-mending with the BCCI and his efforts bore fruit when Pakistan visited India for a limited-overs series of five matches (two Twenty20 and three ODIs) which was won by the visitors.—Agencies