Former cricketer Shoaib Akhtar a few days back suggested an India vs Pakistan bilateral series to raise funds for coronavirus relief. However, there was a mixed reaction to his suggestion, and it seems we will have to wait for more for the bilateral cricket ties to resume between India and Pakistan. Meanwhile, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman has said that they don't need cricket with India to survive. Mani also called India "unreliable" and said PCB doesn't mix politics and cricket. Pakistan Players Won’t Face Pay Cuts Amid Coronavirus Lockdown: PCB Chairman Ehsan Mani.
"Not having India series costs us but we're not thinking about that. As they say, it's pie in the sky. If it's not there, it's not there. We have to live without them, but we don't need them to survive," Mani said.
"India are unreliable, we can't rely on cricket resuming with them anytime in the foreseeable future. If it happens, good. We face them in ICC events, that's fine. We're interested in cricket and we keep politics and cricket separate," the PCB chief added.
Mani also gave his insights on Pakistan's tour of England scheduled in July. "We'll do what's the need of the hour & work with ECB. The tour will go ahead hopefully, but we have to be prepared for disruptions, our plans will need to be flexible & there'll have to be goodwill on both sides," he said.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 14, 2020 08:01 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).