Pakistan seeks $70 million from India for unplayed cricket series

Pakistan has kicked off a legal battle against India for not honouring a bilateral cricket series agreement, the sport's governing body confirmed on 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 in 2014.

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". 

According to the Dawn newspaper in Karachi a total of six bilateral series were scheduled to take place between 2015 and 2022.

The newspaper further reported that of the six bilateral series initially agreed upon in the 2014 memorandum, revenue from four of the series was supposed to go to Pakistan and two series were meant to generate money for India.

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.