The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah played down the possibility of a four-nation T20 Super Series proposed by Pakistan Cricket Board chief Ramiz Raja by calling it a “short-term commercial initiative”. (More Cricket News)
Notably, Ramiz had proposed the idea in a bid to see more India Vs Pakistan matches, easily the biggest rivalry in world cricket. According to Pakistan's plans, Australia and England would complete the line-up in what would become a money spinner since top teams would play.
Ramiz proposed that the competition could be hosted on a rotation basis by the four countries and the profits made from the matches could be shared with all ICC members on a percentage basis.
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However, Jay Shah is against the idea and feels that BCCI must focus on the expansion of the game by seeing cricket getting included at the Olympics rather than looking for any short money-making plan.
BCCI FOCUS ON IPL
"With the IPL window expanding and the ICC (global) events every year in the cycle, our primary responsibility is to safeguard bilateral cricket at home, with emphasis on Test cricket," Shah has been quoted by Reuters.
"I am also looking forward to seeing cricket at the Olympics, as that will help the game grow. Expansion of the sport is a challenge that our game faces and we must prioritise it over any short-term commercial initiative," the BCCI secretary added.
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Interestingly, BCCI has not been able to host India's biggest first-class cricket tournament, the Ranji Trophy, in the last two years leaving hundreds of domestic cricketers in the lurch.
It is worth noting that since 2012-13, Pakistan and India have not played any bilateral series against each other due to political tensions between the two nations. India and Pakistan only play tournaments hosted by the International Cricket Council or the Asian Cricket Council.
India and Pakistan last met in a T20 World Cup group stage match in UAE last year. Pakistan smashed India by 10 wickets to score their first win in a World Cup match.
India and Pakistan will be facing each other next on October 23 at the T20 World Cup in Australia this year. The women's teams of India and Pakistan will also be clashing in the ICC Women's ODI World Cup in New Zealand on March 6.
