New chairman Greg Barclay says, ICC can't Influence bilateral ties between India and Pakistan

Barclay said he will try his best to get India and Pakistan playing again.

By Rashmi Nanda - 30 Nov, 2020

Greg Barclay, newly-appointed International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman, has made it clear that he wouldn’t mandate or doesn't have the power to influence the bilateral relations between India and Pakistan.

However, Barclay has insisted that he will try his best to bring India and Pakistan together in a position where they can play cricket regularly against each other, like, they did in the past, but said there are some things are beyond cricket, and they don't want to interfere.

Having been worked as a New Zealand Cricket (NZC) representative at the ICC before taking over as ICC Chairman, Barclay has seen the constant differences between the Board of Control for Cricket in India and the Pakistan Cricket Board from close quarters. He said the ICC would love to bring India and Pakistan back together on the same page with regards to cricketing matters.

Barclay said about the relationship between the BCCI and PCB, “I would love nothing more than for India and Pakistan to be able to continue cricketing relations as they were previously. I am also enough of a realist to understand that there are geo-political issues at play here.”

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The ICC chief further explained, “I think all we can do at the ICC is to continue to help and support in any way that we can to bring about outcomes that would see India and Pakistan in a position where they can play cricket regularly against each other and in their home territories.

Beyond that, I do not think I have the mandate or ability to influence the outcomes more than that. That is really being done at a level way beyond where we would be operating.”

Barclay signed off by saying, “Rest assured that from the cricketing point of view, we would love to get those countries back together again on a regular basis. The ICC will do whatever it can to help facilitate and support an outcome that might see that happen.”

Noteworthy, India and Pakistan play only in the ICC events and Asia Cup and the Indian Government has made it clear that the neighboring country must stop doing the actions that hurt the interest of the country to resume bilateral cricketing ties.

(With ANI Inputs)

By Rashmi Nanda - 30 Nov, 2020

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