By IANS,
Karachi : Pakistan is willing to pay Sri Lanka up to $1.5 million to play a hastly arranged series here in January-February.
According to sources in the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Pakistan is unlikely to generate any substantial profits from the series that was lined up after India decided to pull out of its tour of Pakistan over last month’s terror attacks in Mumbai.
The cancellation of that much-awaited series caused whopping losses of almost $25 million to the cash-strapped PCB.
Though the itinerary of the series against Sri Lanka is yet to be decided, it has been learnt that the PCB is ready to dish out $1.5 million to Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) for the series that is likely to take place from Jan 20 to Feb 25.
The amount is for three Tests and five One-day Internationals. However, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is still undecided on the tour itinerary and is now asking for a reduction in the number of one-day games.
According to sources, SLC has asked PCB to revert to the initial tour itinerary that included three Tests, three ODIs and a Twenty20 game. That itinerary was revised by the PCB after SLC asked for the inclusion of two more one-dayers instead of the sole Twenty20 game.
However, that request came from SLC when Arjuna Ranatunga was its interim head. After his sacking, the Sri Lanka board is now asking for yet another change.
Meanwhile, the PCB marketing team is making all out efforts to find sponsors for the series. However, it is yet to achieve any major breakthrough.
According to sources, the board is looking for a title sponsor for the series that would fetch it around $300,000. Such a sponsorship would help the PCB to break even – a far cry from the $25 million it was expecting to receive from the money-spinning series against India.