India to host Pakistan for ODI series in December-January

Jul 16, 2012 05:28 pm

India and Pakistan will resume bilateral ties with a ,short series," comprising three ODIs and two Twenty20 internationals" in December and January' The matches" which are likely to be held between the Test and one)day legs of England~s tour of India" will form the first bilateral series between the two sides since Pakistan toured India in end)2007' The decision was taken by the BCCI at its working committee meeting on Monday' Rajiv Shukla" a senior BCCI official" said the plan was to hold the three ODIs in Chennai" Delhi and Kolkata" and the Twenty20 matches in Ahmedabad and Bangalore' Bilateral cricketing ties were snapped following the Mumbai terror attacks in November 2008" though the two countries have played each other in the World Cup" Champions Trophy and Asia Cup' The decision comes after prolonged" high)level consultations between officials of the two boards and" latterly" of the two governments' BCCI president N Srinivasan and PCB chief Zaka Ashraf have held several discussions this year regarding resumption of ties" with Pakistan hoping to fit in a series at the end of the year" during the Christmas break in England~s tour of India' After the last of those meetings" on the sidelines of the ICC~s annual conference in June" Ashraf had said Pakistan were ready for progress on the series but Srinivasan said he would only be able to commit after checking with Indian authorities' It is Pakistan~s turn to host a bilateral series between the two' But there has been no international cricket in the country between Full Members since the March 2009 attack on the Sri Lanka team bus and it is understood that India are not keen to play at a neutral venue" as has been the case with all Pakistan~s ~home~ series since the attack' Subsequently" Ashraf said India had the prerogative to decide on the dates and host the series" but the PCB would want the BCCI to share revenue because the PCB has apparently not yet recovered from the financial loss suffered when India pulled out of their planned tour in 2009' The news is another step forward in both boards~ efforts to improve cricketing relations after the Champions League T20 governing council~s approval of the inclusion of the Sialkot Stallions in this year~s tournament" to be held in October' Sialkot will be the first domestic team from Pakistan to take part in the event' ,The CLT20 is owned by the BCCI" Cricket Australia" and Cricket South Africa" so we will recommend to the governing council that the BCCI has no objection and is prepared to invite a Pakistan team", Srinivasan said at the time' (under the courtesy of espncricinfo web)