Pakistan seeks $70mn from India for unplayed cricket series

KARACHI: Pakistan has kicked off a legal battle against India for not honouring a bilateral cricket series agreement, the sport's governing body confirmed Thursday.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is seeking $70 million in compensation from the Board of Control for Cricket in India after the country failed to attend two series in 2014 and 2015 as part of a memorandum of understanding signed between the two boards.

The International Cricket Council confirmed receiving the notice.

"The ICC has received a Notice of Dispute from the PCB's lawyers, which will be forwarded to the Chairman of the Dispute Resolutions Committee next week," a spokesman for the ICC said.

The ICC Dispute Resolution Committee is headed by Michael Beloff QC who will appoint independent adjudicators to hear the case.

The PCB sent a legal notice to their counterparts earlier this year but Indian officials rejected the memorandum as "a piece of paper".

The arch-rivals have not played a full bilateral series since 2007.

New Delhi halted all bilateral sports with Pakistan in the wake of 2008 Mumbai attacks, which India blamed on militants based in Pakistan.

Those attacks, which killed more than 160 people, nearly brought nuclear-armed arch-enemies India and Pakistan to the brink of war.

The two planned series between India and Pakistan were due to take place at a neutral venue.