Ehsan Mani said that there is "no better way to improve relations between the countries" than through sport.GETTY IMAGES
Pakistan Cricket Board Chair Ehsan Mani believes that India's "continued refusal to play bilateral series with Pakistan" while it "routinely faces" the side in Int'l Cricket Council events amounts to "hypocrisy," according to DAWN. Pakistan and India last played a bilateral event in '13, when the former toured the latter for a three-match ODI series. In the half a decade since, India has refused to honor its "contractual obligations" with the PCB "by neither sending its team to Pakistan nor inviting them over." During this time, the BCCI has used "political tensions" between the neighbors "as its excuse." But Mani "wondered where his Indian counterparts' reasoning disappears when it comes to ICC tournaments" such as the Champions Trophy or World Cup. He said, "There is a lot of hypocrisy at the moment. India plays an ICC event against us but doesn't play a bilateral series. That is something that we need to address." While Mani admitted that Pak-India matches have an "unmatched financial side," he insisted that is "not the real reason why he wants the two rivals to renew their rivalry." Mani: "Money isn't the issue, it's more about the game. There are more viewers for an India-Pakistan match than any other match in the world" (DAWN, 10/16).