BCCI president-elect Sourav Ganguly steers clear of India-Pakistan series queries

Former captain says any decision on bilateral ties has to be taken at the government level

epa07925518 Former Indian national cricket team captain Sourav Ganguly, president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), visits Eden Garden in Kolkata, eastern India, 16 October 2019.  EPA/PIYAL ADHIKARY
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Sourav Ganguly, president-elect of the Indian cricket board, said he is not in a position to talk about resumption of India-Pakistan cricket relations as the decision has to be made at the government level.

India have not played Pakistan in any bilateral series for seven years due to objection from the Indian government following political tension between the countries over terrorism. Pakistan have expressed their willingness to play against India.

India-Pakistan matches are now confined to World Cups and multi-lateral tournaments – like the Asia Cup in the UAE last year.

Ganguly, who is set to take over as chief of the board of control for cricket in India (BCCI) next week, said he is not in a position to promise anything when it comes to India-Pakistan cricket.

"You have to ask that question to (Indian Prime Minister Narendra) Modi ji and the Pakistan Prime Minister," Ganguly said during a media interaction in Kolkata.

"Of course we have to take permission, because international tours are done through governments. So we don’t have an answer to that question,” he added.

The two teams last played a bilateral series in 2012 when India hosted Pakistan for a limited-overs tour of T20s and three ODIs. Ganguly had famously led India during a historic full tour of Pakistan in 2004.

Relations between the two nations have deteriorated over the last few years with the BCCI, through its court-appointed administrators, even requesting cricket’s governing body – ICC – to sever all cricketing ties with Pakistan before the World Cup this year.