Pakistan Cricket Board says Memorandum of Understanding with BCCI is legally binding

Pakistan Cricket Board’s legal advisors have informed that the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the BCCI for 5 bilateral series is a document which is legally binding.

With a failure to come in terms to play a bilateral series and fulfil the MoU, a reliable source in PCB told PTI that the board’s legal team has worked upon the MoU and PCB could be filing for a compensation due the contract’s inability to be completed.

The source said, “The legal team studied the MOU carefully and said it was a legally binding contract and compensation aspect couldn't be ruled out.”

It was also reported by the source that the PCB Chairman, Shaharyar Khan and the head of the Executive Committee Najam Sethi were against the idea of compensation as they thought that BCCI wanted to restore the series themselves.

The source added, “Shaharyar in particular believes that BCCI President Shashank Manohar was sincere in wanting restoration of bilateral ties and had himself suggested the short limited over series in Sri Lanka.”

The Indian Government couldn’t sanction the BCCI to play a series against Pakistan while the PCB was all ready for the series. It was also said that India would be ready to play a short series in England in June, which was also one of the reasons why the compensation claim was neglected.

The PCB Chairman was then contacted and he gave no comments on the topic, he said he cannot say anything until the Indian Board gives a clear picture.

PCB will be discussing with ICC about the cancellation of the bilateral series and they might have all the rights in this world to seek compensation from BCCI. An ICC Board meeting is scheduled for February in Dubai.

The source said that the Legal team had full confidence and reported that there were clauses in the MoU which make it legally binding for BCCI to play five bilateral series and if they refuse to do so, compensation can be asked for.

There is still no clarity among the two boards as to what is to be done, but if sources, as strong as these are to be believed, BCCI might have to pay out a big amount as compensation.