India, Pakistan may play each other in Bangladesh

India and Pakistan may play each other in an one-day triangular series in Bangladesh later this year, a top Indian cricket official said in Bombay on Saturday.

India's government last week refused permission for its national team to play an Asian Test championship match in Pakistan in September due to strained political relations between the south Asian neighbours.

"A final decision on accepting Bangladesh's invitation will be taken next month...The series may take place in December," J.Y. Lele, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, told reporters after a committee meeting.

The BCCI will still need the Indian government's approval if they clear the tour but officials say they are confident because the tournament is not restricted just to India and Pakistan.

Cricket ties between the countries have been rocky since the Indian government cancelled a proposed Test tour of Pakistan late last year and banned all bilateral cricket between the two nations.

BCCI president A.C. Muthiah had agreed to the September Test because the Asian Test championship is a multilateral tournament also involving Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, but the government said they did not want India to play cricket in Pakistan.

Muthiah said on Saturday the board would abide with the government's decision but said he feared the move could isolate India from Asian cricket.

"We want to play Pakistan," he told reporters. "Only when we play against each other can we improve. But I cannot comment on the government's decision, we have to abide by it.

"We should not get isolated in this (Asian) cricketing zone. There are four Test-playing countries in Asia and we are an important factor in the entire cricketing world."

The Indian government did not allow the national team to play in a triangular one-day tournament also involving Pakistan and Sri Lanka in Sharjah last April.

Pakistan retaliated by saying they would sever all cricketing ties with India but softened their stance after the BCCI agreed to the September Test.

Pakistan said India's withdrawal from the Test had also put in doubt the future of a quadrangular one-day series -- also including West Indies and Zimbabwe -- that India and Pakistan had planned to jointly host next year.

Mail Cricket Editor