BCCI hopeful of India playing test in Pakistan

Indian cricket officials say they are hopeful the government will permit the national team to play an Asian test championship game in Pakistan later this year.

"The government has clearly said for a multilateral tournament it has no objection at all," A.C. Muthiah, president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), said on Tuesday.

The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) is due to meet in Lahore on Thursday to discuss the second Asian test championship, planned for this September.

Muthiah, who will be attending the Lahore meeting, said development of the game in Asia and venues for the Asian test championship were the main issues on the agenda.

Officials from the region's four test-playing countries -- India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh -- will attend the meeting.

Sporting relations between India and Pakistan remain strained because of political tension over the disputed Himalayan province of Kashmir.

The Indian government cancelled the team's proposed test tour of Pakistan late last year, citing security concerns, and denied them permission to play in a one-day series in Sharjah last month also involving Pakistan.

The Indian decision to skip the Sharjah tournament angered Pakistan cricket authorities who have said they would boycott the Indian team in future.

The Indian board threatened to boycott major tournaments like the World Cup until the government clarified its playing guidelines and the opponents the team can play.

But the BCCI announced last week it had withdrawn the threat after it received a government letter which said the restriction was only for bilateral matches.

"They (the government) have given us a clear letter," Muthiah told reporters in New Delhi.

For the 1999 inaugural championship -- played as a round robin affair -- Pakistan travelled to India and it will be India's turn to play in that country.

Mail Cricket Editor