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Pakistan sends itinerary to India

India will play three Tests and five one-day games in Pakistan from December under a tentative itinerary sent by the Pakistan Cricket Board to the Board of Control for Cricket in India on Thursday.

PCB director Yawar Saeed said: "We have sent the itinerary to our counterparts in India for approval. It's a three-Test and five one-day match series."

Saeed said the tour has tentatively been fixed from December 26 to February 12.

He refused to comment on a controversy triggered by Pakistan team manager Mohammad Nasir's statement in Sri Lanka that the roots of match-fixing in cricket were in India.

"The Indians are to blame for the match-fixing issue because all the bookies are from India," Nasir had said in Colombo on Monday.

The Indian cricket board reacted sharply to Nasir's statement and dashed off a strong letter to the PCB.

Saeed said the PCB is awaiting the International Cricket Council report on Pakistani umpire Javed Akhtar, who was mentioned in last month's match-fixing inquiry in South Africa.

South African cricket chief Ali Bacher had told the inquiry that he had heard that Akhtar took bribes to influence the outcome of a Test between England and South Africa at Leeds.

"When Akhtar officiated the Leeds Test in 1998 he was representing the ICC and we can only hold an inquiry if we get the match referee's report from that particular Test," Saeed said.

"There's nothing against Akhtar and since he is a Pakistani we have to clear the matter."

Meanwhile, before India head to Pakistan, they take on Zimbabwe for two Tests and another five one-day internationals in India. Nagpur and Cuttack will host the two Tests.

The Zimbabwe team is scheduled to arrive on November 5 and the tour winds up after the one-day games on December 14, according to the BCCI's proposed itinerary, which is as follows:

November 5: Zimbabwe Arrive in India
November 8-10: v India A at Indore
November 13-15: v Board President's XI at Faridabad
November 18-22: First Test at Nagpur
November 25-29: Second Test at Cuttack
December 2: First one-day international at Guwahati
December 5: Second one-day international at Mohali
December 8: Third one-day international at Jaipur
December 11: Fourth one-day international at Ahmedabad
December 14: Fifth and final one-day international at Chennai

Agencies