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'India confirm for Toronto series'

India have confirmed participation in the one-day cricket series against Pakistan in Toronto, in September.

Board of Control for Cricket in India secretary J Y Lele told Gulf News, "We will be going for the Toronto tournament. We have informed the organisers of our participation."

Pakistan had confirmed participation in the tournament but the organisers were doubtful whether India would take part. Pending India's confirmation, the dates for the tournament had been fixed for September 9 to to 17.

The newspaper said doubts whether Toronto would ever be able to stage an India-Pakistan series arose after India decided not to play Pakistan last year in the wake of the Kargil conflict. Then, both countries played three matches each against a third team, the West Indies, before returning home.

The newspaper quoted a source close to the Pakistan Cricket Board as saying that Indian and Pakistani cricket officials decided to bury all their differences to challenge the authority of the International Cricket Council.

It said some of the cricket nations from Asia feel they are not been getting proper allocation of resources from the ICC despite high television viewership of cricket from the region.

The ICC's decision to ingore Zee TV's bid for the next two World Cups, despite the company quoting the highest price, has also angered some Asian nations. It is understood that India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka voted in favour of Zee TV's bid but the rights were given to the Rupert Murdoch-backed World Sports group, the Gulf News said.

In the light of the latest developments, India is also understood to have also agreed to tour Pakistan and play three Tests and five one- dayers from December, the newspaper said.

Meanwhile, the newspaper said Lele was non-committal whether the BCCI would submit the report on financial dealings and code of conduct for players by July 27. Sports minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa has reportedly stated that the BCCI had promised on April 27 that they would submit a detailed report to the government in three months.

"The financial report is in the hands of the BCCI president. I have no idea," Lele remarked. "Regarding the code of conduct, the three-member committee formed to frame the code of conduct for the players is meeting on July 20," he added.

UNI