Never signed any contract with PCB, claims BCCI secretary

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)’s acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary has claimed that his board never signed any contract with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for a bilateral series.

The PCB has lodged a claim of $70 million against the BCCI in front of the International Cricket Council (ICC) for violating the Memorandum of Understand (MoU) which was signed in 2014 at the time of the formation of the Big Three.

According to the document signed, which the PCB claims to be a ‘contract’, the arch rivals were to play six bilateral series between 2015 and 2023.

However, not a single series has materialised as the Indian government refused to give a green signal to the BCCI to resume cricketing ties with Pakistan due to tensions on the political front.  

To settle the issue, the ICC has formed a three-member panel which will decide the case in October later this year.

However, Choudhary, while talking to media on the sidelines of the ICC’s annual meeting, claimed that the signed document was not a contract; instead it was a statement of intent.

"It's a statement of intent and not a contract,” said Choudhary according to the Press Trust of India (PTI). “I don't blame them for sticking to the letter; but it is not a contract. They have their own pressure at home which I understand.”