Ijaz Butt, the ACC president, wants to know why the BCCI decided not to send a team to the Asian Games
The Asian Cricket Council (ACC), the body that lobbied to get cricket included in the Asian Games, was caught off guard by the BCCI's decision to not send its teams to the event in China in November.
"It has come as a surprise for us," Ijaz Butt, the ACC president, told Dawn. "To pull out at the eleventh hour without any notice or information is surprising to say the least. Everyone had agreed in principle to send teams for the event."
The council has not yet formulated a response to the BCCI's decision because Butt has been unable to get in touch with Indian board president Shashank Manohar. "I have been trying to get in touch with the BCCI president to find out what prompted him to take the sudden decision. Until I get to hear from him, I can't make a comment," he said.
Meanwhile Pakistan confirmed it will be sending a team to Guangzhou. "We will send a strong team for the games as we feel China has a viable commercial market for the sport," Javed Miandad, PCB's director-general of cricket, told Reuters. The Pakistan government has championed the effort to spread cricket in China, going so far as to appoint Miandad as a cricket ambassador to China.
According to Miandad, Pakistan can send a strong team because it has no international commitments in November. However, Pakistan is currently scheduled to take on South Africa in a month-long series in the UAE that runs through November 24.
The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) chose to stand aside and let the ACC handle the situation. "The ACC worked really hard to get cricket included in the Asian Games," IOA secretary-general, Randhir Singh, said. "So, it is their responsibility to take up the issue with the BCCI."
On Tuesday, the BCCI had announced it would not be sending a team to the games due to international commitments.
Source http://www.cricinfo.com/pakistan/content/story/461837.html
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