PCB chairman Ehsan Mani terms India's stance on playing Pakistan "hypocrisy"

Mani believes that the diplomatic relations between the two countries can be improved only through cricket

President of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Ehsan Mani, has demanded to restore India-Pakistan cricket relations once again. Mani believes that the diplomatic relations between the two countries can be improved only through cricket. Due to the tension prevailing on the Indo-Pak border, there has not been a single bilateral series between the two countries since January 2013.

However, both the teams have come face-to-face against each another in the ICC Tournaments for 10 times since then.

In an interview with ESPNcricinfo, Mani said, “The main thing is that we play cricket against each other. When we play cricket, especially in our countries - when we go to India or when they come here - helps in increasing people-to-people contact. Indian fans come to Pakistan. Lakhs of fans have come to Pakistan from India and everyone goes back happy.

"There's no better way to improve the relations between countries than having sporting contacts, cultural contacts. For me, that is far more important than any amount of money that comes into the game.

The newly elected chairman, amidst the political tension prevailing between the two countries said that India had a hypocoristic stance on playing against Pakistan. Mani also stated that India-Pakistan match had the highest financial significance in the world.

"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."