A miffed PCB Chairman Shahryar Khan on Tuesday conceded that the prospects of an Indo-Pak bilateral cricket series are "very low" as "pressures" were preventing the BCCI from taking any initiative on the issue.
Khan said that it was unfair to keep the Pakistan Cricket Board waiting for so long and that he would seek no further meetings with the BCCI officials.
Khan, who was here in Delhi, hoping to meet some top government ministers and officials in a bid to resume cricketing ties with India, said the Indian Board has not responded to the initiative taken by him.
"I am not optimistic (about the series) now after what has happened here because obviously there are pressures here. As of now, the chances are very low. I am not going to make any effort now," Khan told reporters here without specifying what he meant by pressures.
Elaborating on the entire sequence of events since his arrival in the country, Khan said he came on BCCI chief Shashank Manohar's invitation.
"He (Manohar) was gracious and wanted to talk. He asked would you come to Mumbai for a chat. He said come on Monday that is yesterday. I said fine, I will be in Mumbai on Sunday night. As you know half an hour before we were to meet, I got a message from the BCCI that we will delay the talks, then came another message”, he said referring to the Shiv Sena activists' storming of the BCCI headquarters on Monday.
"So I sat back, I was not in any danger. So that meeting was cancelled. I waited till evening if there was any rescheduled meeting but there was no indication from the BCCI," he added.
Earlier, Khan met Shukla at his residence in what was described as a "courtesy call" in the backdrop of the furore surrounding talks for a possible resumption of Indo-Pak bilateral cricket ties.
"It was a courtesy call, we exchanged pleasantries, there were no official talks. Whatever talks happen will be done by the BCCI President, he will take a final call on these matters," Shukla said after meeting Khan.