No Indo-Pak series in 2016, says Anurag Thakur
Ruling out the possibility of a bilateral cricket-series against Pakistan, BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur stated that no such series is scheduled in 2016 . He said that in Futures Tours & Programme (FTP) calendar, a series had been planned in 2015 but not in 2016. Thakur added that India will play Pakistan in Asia Cup and the World T20 since they are multinational tournaments.
India were Pakistan's first opponents after they gained test status. The first ever test match between the two was played at Delhi in October 1952. India won the 5-match series 2–1.
India played 16 test series consisting of 59 test matches against Pakistan. Pakistan won 12 of the matches as opposed to India's 9. 5 of these series were won by Pakistan and 4 by India. In ODIs, India played Pakistan 127 times. Pakistan won 72 of them and India 51. Of the 6 T20Is played, 4 were won by India and 1 by Pakistan.
Since 2007, BCCI has not played a proper bilateral Test series with Pakistan. India suspended all series with Pakistan after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, which New Delhi blamed on militants from Pakistan. The two countries however met in ICC-organized events or the Asia Cup. The last bilateral series of three ODIs and two T20 matches was played in India in December 2012.
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) signed an MoU with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to play six cricket series between 2015 and 2023. A total of 14 tests, 30 ODIs and 12 T20 matches would be part of these six series. Pakistan would host four of the series in the United Arab Emirates or Pakistan with mutual consent.
After months of uncertainity regarding the proposed bilateral series on 25 Nov 2015, IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla said that India and Pakistan have agreed to play a five-match series in Sri Lanka, pending a green signal from Indian government.
BCCI's proposal to hold India-Pakistan series seemed to have taken a hit with the Centre not willing for the match to happen in Sri Lanka. A senior government official said that this proposal was unlikely to get approval at a time when security breaches were taking place. Authorities believe the J&K attack was Pakistan's doing and think a match under such circumstances was unfavourable.
BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur virtually ruled out the possibility of bilateral series with Pakistan, given the short window ahead of India's tour of Australia from January 12. Thakur said that even if the Indian government gave a green signal in the next one week, it was not possible to host a series in such short notice, Pakistan on the other hand awaited India's response.
