Mumbai: As he gets ready to take over the reins of the International Cricket Council (ICC) as its chairman, former Pakistan wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal has asked Jay Shah to act as chairman of the global and not think of India alone.
Jay Shah, the secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will take over as ICC Chairman from Greg Barclay December 1 and Akmal said it will be imperative for him to act as chairman of the global body and not India think of India’s interests alone.
“Jay Shah has to take all member countries together and not only think of India alone. His tenure will be challenging because his acts will guide the global body and he will face criticism if he favours India,” Akmal told Telecom Asia Sport in an exclusive interview.
Akmal said during his tenure the ICC should try and find a permanent solution to this problem.
He alleged that the anti-Pakistan narrative dominates the policies of the current Indian government. On its part, the Indian government is against bilateral cricket between the two neighbours till Pakistan desists from supporting terrorism in India.
“India always mixes politics in sports and this current government has an anti-Pakistan policy. The Indian government should reconsider their stance because without playing cricket, relations cannot be normalised,” he was quoted as saying in the interview.
Kamran believed there could be a political solution to the stand-off that has seen the two countries not playing bilateral series since Pakistan toured India for three ODIs and two T20Is in December 2012.
“Pakistan has been hosting international teams. We have seen England and New Zealand touring Pakistan thrice in the last two years, Australia have visited and enjoyed and South Africa have also played here. So security is not an issue. We have given all the teams presidential-level security so the Indian team can get extra security. BCCI should convince their government that foolproof security will be guaranteed.”
Having toured India on several occasions and featured in the Indian Premier League, Akmal said player-to-player relations are cordial. “We are friends and whenever we meet each other we talk of the past tours. All the players want India to play Pakistan and tour each other’s countries. We recently had a Legends Cup in the UK where we sat together and talked for hours. I am still in touch with Gautam Gambhir (the Indian team’s current head coach) and he is very cordial. We all want Indo-Pak cricket.”
The former wicketkeeper still hopes India will reconsider their rigid stance on not touring Pakistan. “I have hope against hope. I would be the happiest man in Lahore if the Indian team played matches in my city. Pakistan fans have not seen Virat Kohli play in Pakistan. They want to see Rohit Sharma play, Rishabh Pant and Jasprit Bumrah play,” he said.
That is unlikely to happen so soon considering the BCCI has conveyed to the ICC that it has not got permission from the Indian government to travel to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy 2025 and uncertainty looms over it ever since.
