According to Indian media reports, BCCI is keen to host five ODIs and two T20 matches with Pakistan in December, under an MoU between the Indian and Pakistani cricket boards last year.
BCCI president Shashank Manohar informed the annual general meeting of the board that the board had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to play a two-Test and five-match one-day series in the United Arab Emirates in December 2015.
“We are committed to playing Pakistan in December. However, since it’s not possible to play them in Pakistan or the UAE, we have to look at playing the series in Northern India in December,” said Manohar, giving the latest status report on the series.
Under the arrangement, India and Pakistan are to play multiple bilateral series between 2015 and 2023. Four of these series will be hosted by Pakistan. It will comprise six tours which include 14 Tests, 30 ODIs and 12 T20s. Pakistan last toured India in 2012-13.
After his election in October, Manohar had said that resumption of India-Pakistan series hinged not only on the decision of the Boards, but also on the decision of the two governments in New Delhi and Islamabad.
“To play against Pakistan we need to get government permission. So we need to speak to the government and abide by whatever decision the government takes,” he said.
India and Pakistan have not played a Test series since December 2007 and a One-Day International series since December 2012.
The discussions between the two boards were disrupted by the Shiv Sena which stormed the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai last month — PCB chief Shahryar Khan was supposed to hold a meeting with Indian board president Shashank Manohar.
Indian media reports quoting top BCCI officials said talks have already begun with the government and another series of talks will take place after Diwali.
“We want cricketing ties to happen, we don’t want politics to hamper cricket. We will be going with a few proposals. One, where we can have five ODIs and two T20s. In the second proposal, we can have three ODIs and two T20s. All these games will be played in those parts of the country where we feel there will be no disturbance from political parties,” a top BCCI official told an Indian news website.
