Pakistan to demand compensation if India continues boycott

Pakistan will demand compensation if the International Cricket Council fails to persuade India to end its cricketing boycott of Pakistan.

"I have told the ICC executive board members that Pakistan should be given compensation if India continues its refusal to play against us," Pakistan cricket board chairman Lt. General Tauqir Zia told Reuters on Saturday.

"I told the board members...that Pakistan can't endorse the ICC's 10-year programme if India continues to cancel scheduled series against us," Zia added.

"In the ICC programme, we play India at home or away six times. I told the board members to consider the financial losses we have suffered or will face if India continues its cricket boycott of us."

The Indian government has refused to allow its team to play Pakistan since 2000, saying Pakistan aids rebels in Kashmir, a charge Islamabad denies. India called off matches against Pakistan twice last year.

However India's cricket chief Jagmohan Dalmiya said on Saturday he plans to meet government officials next week to discuss the country's inability to sign the 10-year test programme.

"The International Cricket Council (ICC) wanted the 10-year programme to be signed by all countries," Dalmiya, president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), told reporters.

FORCE MAJEURE

"We have taken a position that there should be a provision on force majeure that should include permission from the government."

"If the government takes a decision not to allow a board to play (against another country), it should be treated as a force majeure and the $2 million penalty should not be levied. We cannot flout the government's decision."

Dalmiya also said the ICC president Malcolm Gray and chief executive Malcolm Speed were likely to meet with India's government officials to resolve the issue at a later date.

In a further bid to persuade the Indian government to resume cricket ties with Pakistan, Zia said his executive board wanted to approach former South African president Nelson Mandela to use his influence.

"But, if all these things fail, then we (will) seek compensation under the ICC's 10-year programme for any cancelled series," Zia said.

ICC president Malcolm Gray has said the ICC cannot interfere in government or political decisions.

Pakistan has already asked for compensation from the ICC for having to play its home series against the West Indies earlier this year in Sharjah. The ICC executive board has referred the matter to its finance committee.

Mail Cricket Editor