LAHORE: Though the government has finally given green signal to the Pakistan Cricket Board to play its home series against India in Sri Lanka, the Board of Control for Cricket in India still awaits the similar permission from its government.

“The PCB has received a decision by the government of Pakistan, accepting the resumption of Pakistan-India cricket series in December 2015-January 2016 with Pakistan hosting it in Sri Lanka. Details of the proposed series will be announced later once the BCCI gives a go-ahead for it,” a short-worded press-release issued by the PCB on Friday stated.

The two cricket boards signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the said series last year and the upcoming series is one of the six to be played in next eight years.

According to the MoU, the series was to be held at the neutral venue of the UAE as the Indians did not want to play in Pakistan. But later, the Indians even refused to play in the UAE which emerged Sri Lankan and Bangladesh as the next possible venues.

As the government of Pakistan has approved Sri Lanka as the venue, the ball is now in the court of the Indian government to give similar approval to its cricket board.

The PCB is expecting huge revenue from the series to stabilise its financial condition but so far the BCCI seems reluctant to help the PCB cash in on the opportunity through this series.

England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Giles Clarke played an integral part in bringing the heads of the two cricket boards on the negotiating table for the series in the UAE.

Published in Dawn, November 28th, 2015