DUBAI: The International Cricket Council has dismissed a compensation claim by Pakistan over India’s refusal to honor an agreement to play bilateral series.
“Following a three-day hearing and having considered detailed oral and written submissions, the Dispute Panel has dismissed the PCB’s claim against the BCCI,” the ICC said in a statement.
The decision cannot be appealed.
The dispute centered on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) according to which India and Pakistan had agreed to play six bilateral series between 2015-2023, four of which would be hosted by Pakistan.
The PCB had filed a compensation claim of $70 million.
But India refused to play Pakistan citing the Indian government’s objections due to strained relations with Pakistan.
According to the agreement, the six tours would include up to 14 Tests, 30 one-days and 12 Twenty20 internationals.
The MoU was a reward to Pakistan for backing the “Big Three” plan according to which India, Australia and England had the major share of power and revenues of world cricket.
However, that arrangement fell apart and the BCCI refused to accept the MoU as a legal document, dismissing it as a “piece of paper.”
India cut off cricket ties with Pakistan after the 2008 terrorist attacks on Mumbai which left more than 160 people killed.
The two sides have not played a full series since Pakistan’s tour of India in 2007.
Pakistan toured India for a limited-overs series with two Twenty20s and three one-day internationals from December 2012-January 2013 but full ties were not restored.
After negotiations about the proposed tours failed, the PCB filed a notice of dispute with the ICC resolution committee in November last year, claiming the 70 million dollars in compensation.
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), which has reportedly spent one million dollars fighting the case, described the decision as “disappointing.”
“Following a lengthy dispute resolution process, the announcement of the decision has come as a disappointment,” it said.
“PCB will determine its future course of action in this regard after detailed deliberations and consultations with its stakeholders.”
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) welcomed the decision, saying it had always maintained that the MoU was non-binding and that it “merely expressed an intention to play.”
“The BCCI wholeheartedly welcomes the decision of the Dispute Panel. The BCCI will now move the Dispute Panel to recover its legal cost from the PCB,” it said in a press release.
Cricket world body rejects Pakistan compensation claim over India
Cricket world body rejects Pakistan compensation claim over India
Gooch, Detry and Uihlein share lead at halfway stage in Riyadh
- Smash GC lead the team competition at LIV Golf Riyadh with score of 30-under
RIYADH: Three shots separate the top 13 players after 36 holes here for the LIV Golf season opener.
The competition shifted up a gear for the second round of the Roshn Group LIV Golf Riyadh 2026, as the world’s best continued to battle under the lights, with cooler and windier conditions in round two.
With the event reaching its midway point, the leaderboard has begun to take shape, setting the stage for a high-stakes weekend in the Saudi capital.
Talor Gooch (Smash GC) has joined overnight leaders Thomas Detry (4Aces GC) and Peter Uihlein (RangeGoats GC) after Thursday night’s round, carding a consecutive five-under 67 to move to 10-under for the tournament with 36 holes to play.
Sitting one back from the leaders on nine-under after carding an under-four 68 in round two, Sebastian Munoz (Torque GC) reflected on his round: “It started a bit slow with a bogey on No. 2. I hit a bad bunker shot.
“Then after that I made some good birdies and kept it moving along. The wind came over, and I was able to kind of keep my focus and keep hitting good shots and keep giving myself good chances, and made some birdies on the back.
“Then I made some solid pars coming in. So really happy where the game is at.”
Meanwhile, first-round co-leader Detry remained firmly in the hunt, following up his opening 65 with a steady three-under 69 as he continues to embrace the atmosphere on course.
“Got off to a pretty shaky start. It was a bogey-free round yesterday, but today I felt a little uncomfortable early on. I managed to sort of settle the ship then with two birdies on holes No. 4 and 5, and then just fought hard.
The temperature sort of dropped after nine holes and the wind picked up, as well. I wasn’t really expecting that. It was sort of a bit of a fight out there, which was nice. I like it.”
“I was sort of out there taking care of my business, and suddenly I saw the leaderboard with the 4Aces GC popping up, and that sort of reminded me that I was also playing for the team, which is great.”
After shooting a five-under 67 for the second time in his two rounds Gooch commented: “Yeah, it was a really solid day. Really good ball control. The only bogey made was a three-putt from about 15 feet (4.5 meters).
“Made life really simple today. Hit a bumping of greens, gave myself some good looks and made a few. These are the type of days of golf that you wish you could have more of.”
On his first experience as captain of Smash GC, he said: “I couldn’t have asked for a better start to the year through the first two rounds. We’ve still got a lot of golf left, so we’ve got to go and continue to play great.
“But like I said, I couldn’t have predicted or hoped for a better start. It’s a great start, and hopefully we can continue going and just set the tone for a great year after this first week.”
Gooch’s Smash GC teammate Jason Kokrak fired a bogey-free eight-under to storm the leaderboard and get within two shots of the leaders. “It was really good. Got into a couple sticky situations but made a couple of nice par saves,” he said.
“Got hot for about a nine- or 10-hole stretch. Drove the ball very nicely. Way better than yesterday. So very pleased with how I played.”
Uihlein is eager to bring his fine form into the weekend after shooting a three-under 69 in round two. When asked about the potential of bringing home his first LIV Golf trophy, he said: “Yeah, it would be awesome.
“That’s what we want to do. We want to win individually. We want to win as a team. But winning individually? Yeah, that’s what the goal is, to win.
“Now that we get world ranking points, you can jump up in the OWGR (Official World Golf Ranking) and try to get in the majors. That’s definitely the goal.”
In the team standings, Smash GC (-30) took a commanding lead after those low scores from Kokrak and Gooch. Torque GC (-27) and 4Aces GC (-23) stay firmly in the race for the podium with all four player scores counting for all four rounds this season.
Round 2 – Individual Leaderboard:
1 – Talor Gooch (Smash GC) | R2 (-5) - After R2 (-10)
1 – Peter Uihlein (RangeGoats GC) | R2 (-3) - After R2 (-10)
1 – Thomas Detry (4Aces GC) | R2 (-3) - After R2 (-10)
Round 1 – Team Leaderboard:
1 – Smash GC (-30)
2 – Torque GC (-27)
3 – 4Aces GC (-23)
