The International Cricket Council said that there has been no deliberate attempt to schedule an India versus Pakistan encounter during next year’s Champions Trophy in England as it has been widely reported in the British media.
In the tournament supposed to be held between June 1-18, next year, India and Pakistan have been placed in group B and are scheduled meet on June 4 at Edgbaston in Birmingham.
“No doubt we want to try to put India versus Pakistan in our event,” said ICC chief executive Dave Richardson has been quoted by the ‘Daily Telegraph’.
“It’s hugely important from an ICC point of view. It’s massive around the world and the fans have come to expect it as well. It’s fantastic for the tournament because it gives it a massive kick,” Richardson has been further quoted.
But according to sources in the ICC, they feel that a wrong twist is being given to the groupings which has been done in a fair manner.
“David Richardson has explained and clarified in the same interview that the groups were formed on the basis of the eight teams’ rankings as on 30 September 2015. It is just a coincidence, like it is that Australia, England and New Zealand are in Group A, that India and Pakistan are in Group B,” an ICC spokesman said on Thursday.
Richardson, however, denied that the constant clash between the arch-rivals affects the fairness of ICC events.
“What we try and do is make sure that when you add up the rankings of the different groups, they all add up to the same number of points. You can do that in a number of ways. So long as the pools are balanced, it’s silly to avoid (the fixture) when you can fairly cater for it,” he added.
The logic for ICC is that the first eight teams within the stipulated timeframe of September 30, 2015 qualified for the event and it has been ensured that both groups are equally strong keeping in mind the balance of the sides.
Their explanation is that cumulative total of ICC seedings is 18 for both groups. Australia (1), New Zealand (4), England (6)and Bangladesh (7) comprise group A. The sum total is 1+4+6+7 which equals 18.
Similarly, in group B, India (2), South Africa (3), Sri lanka (5) and Pakistan (8)’s sum total of rankings is also 18.
For ICC, if Indo-Pak contest is a big ticket game, so are Australia vs England on June 10 in Edgbaston and England vs New Zealand or Australia vs New Zealand games.
“The groups were determined strictly according to the rankings as at the cut-off date and in such a way as to create parity in each group, so that one group is not stronger than the other. This requires that the total ranking points in each group should be the same i.E. 18 points each.
This method has been consistently followed for all previous events and strictly within those parameters, it has turned out that India/Pakistan have found themselves legitimately and fairly in the same group,” the ICC spokesman added further.
A couple of days before the all-Asian clash, Australia and New Zealand will lock horns in a repeat of the World Cup 2015 final at Edgbaston.
The top eight sides as on September 30, 2015 have qualified for this tournament, with world champions Australia seeded number-one. They head Group A, which also includes fourth seeds New Zealand, sixth seeds England and seventh seeds Bangladesh, who will be returning to this competition for the first time since 2006.
India lead Group B, which also comprises third seeds South Africa, fifth seeds Sri lanka and eighth seeds Pakistan.
The top two sides from each group will progress to the semi-finals, which will be played at Cardiff and Edgbaston on June 14 and 15 respectively, with The Oval hosting the final.