The common perception, atleast the one assiduously promoted by the Australian media is that the BCCI gets its way with the ICC with nary a murmur. Is there any truth to that perception?
There could be some truth, but not in the way it is being suggested. BCCI’s financial clout may not help steamroll over other associations; however it may help negotiate better.
For example, India has been pushing for a ban on sledging. Ultimately it may go through, but it doesn’t mean every other association will blindly agree without extracting its pound of flesh.
To illustrate, here is an example of how Pakistan is using this situation to its advantage.
The Australian tour to Pakistan is doubtful. There are some who say that Australian cricketers are reluctant to tour as it happens in the midst of the inaugural IPL tournament in India, but the tour may be called off mainly due to safety concerns.
If the tour is cancelled or truncated it will leave a good part of the Pakistan cricketing calendar unengaged. Obviously, PCB is looking for ways to fill the hole and bolster itself financially. One country which can do both simultaneously is India. However, India has sidled out of it citing a tight cricketing schedule.
On top of this rebuff there is also a growing feeling among Pakistan’s cricketing fraternity that the PCB is supporting BCCI without any reservations. A couple of former cricketers namely Miandad and Moin Khan have already set the tone by accusing India of not coming to Pakistan’s aid in its time of need.
To silence these voices and also to force India to tour, PCB has hit upon the ploy of voicing their dissent to India’s ‘ban sledging proposal’.
A PCB official said India had introduced the proposal for ban on sledging but Pakistan's stand was that the ICC code of conduct had enough clauses to deal with the issue.
"We just feel sledging is a relative thing and although it should never allowed to go out of hand but umpires should use the context of a match or series and its location to determine what constitutes sledging," the official said.
These words are just for public consumption and intended to ratchet up pressure on the BCCI. PCB knows that the BCCI will not let their proposal sink and will ensure that their ally’s concerns are addressed. Surely they will concede to some of Pakistan’s terms and ‘convince’ PCB the need for the ‘ban’ and vote for it.
It will be interesting to watch how events unfold. Will Pakistan be assuaged with India agreeing to tour or are they looking at something bigger, say annulling the ‘Test forfeit’ result?
What do you think will satisfy PCB?
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