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August 5, 1998

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It's just not cricket!

By our correspondent

Never mind the massacres in Kashmir, and the 100 other burning problems besetting the nation -- a team of Indian MPs, come September, will head off to the Caribbean for a series of, hold your breath, limited over cricket matches against their West Indian counterparts.

To be led by former BCCI president Madhavrao Scindia, the side will have former Test opener and BJP MP Chetan Chauhan as deputy skipper.

Others likely to make the cut for the team which will play in Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, and Antigua besides other as yet undecided venues are Madhavrao's sister (that's right, this is a mixed team) Vasundhara Raje Scindia; Omar Abdullah, son of Farooq Abdullah, Sukhbir Singh Badal son of Prakash Singh Badal, Surinder Singh son of Bansi Lal, Najma Heptullah, Suresh Pachauri, NKP Salve and Prithviraj Chavan.

Air India will provide free passage for the MPs, while the various West Indian states and Indian expatriates will look after the team's local expenses at each venue.

The team will also stop over in the US and Mexico, where the Indian embassies will take over to provide the hospitality.

Omar Abdullah at 25 is the side's baby, while the 70-plus Salve qualifies as the senior citizen.

The trip was actually meant to take place last year, with K P Singh Deo as its mastermind, but before it could materialise, the Congress pulled the government down, necessitating polls.

Before the trip, the MPs will play warm up matches against the Rajya Sabha XI, and a Journalists' XI.

Mail Prem Panicker

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