New Delhi: 
India and Pakistan may play cricket again after five years. The cricket boards of the two countries have agreed in principal to play three One-Day International matches in December this year, and the BCCI says, only the approval of the Indian government is now needed.
The series, if it's on, will be played during the Christmas break and in India. Mohali, New Delhi and Dharamsala are the venues tentatively picked, say sources.
India has a packed cricket schedule this year and the Indo-Pak matches will be accommodated in the middle of England's tour to India. England will finish the Tests series and the team will fly back for Christmas. They will be back in the New Year to play ODIs.
An India-Pakistan encounter on the cricket field will be manna for fans; the two countries last played a Test and ODI series way back in 2007. Then came
the Mumbai terror attacks of 2008 plunging bilateral ties between the two countries to an all-time low. Cricket suffered. India were scheduled to tour Pakistan in January 2009, but most players said they were reluctant to go.
Sri Lanka stepped in and agreed to tour Pakistan instead, but a terror attack on the visiting team in Lahore on March 3, 2009, saw an end to international cricket in Pakistan. Since then, no international team has toured Pakistan. Even World Cup 2011 matches scheduled to be played in Pakistan were shifted to other venues in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
On the sidelines of efforts to revive bilateral ties between the two nations, the Pakistan Cricket Board has been pushing hard to resume cricketing ties with India and also bring back international cricket to Pakistan. Earlier this month, the foreign secretaries of both the countries had talked about resuming sporting contact and last week, PCB chief Zaka Ashraf made three offers - that India could tour Pakistan, or play them at a neutral venue, or then it could allow PCB to host their home series in India.
The PCB chief has held several meetings with BCCI president N Srinivasan. Later this year, the BCCI has invited Pakistan's domestic champion outfit the
Sialkot Stallions to participate in the qualifying Tournament of Champions League Twenty20 to be held in South Africa later this year.
For the last five years, India and Pakistan have only played each other in multi-team series and in the famous semi-final of the 2010 World Cup when India defeated Pakistan at Mohali.
India and Pakistan may play cricket again after five years. The cricket boards of the two countries have agreed in principal to play three One-Day International matches in December this year, and the BCCI says, only the approval of the Indian government is now needed.The series, if it's on, will be played during the Christmas break and in India. Mohali, New Delhi and Dharamsala are the venues tentatively picked, say sources.
India has a packed cricket schedule this year and the Indo-Pak matches will be accommodated in the middle of England's tour to India. England will finish the Tests series and the team will fly back for Christmas. They will be back in the New Year to play ODIs.
An India-Pakistan encounter on the cricket field will be manna for fans; the two countries last played a Test and ODI series way back in 2007. Then came
the Mumbai terror attacks of 2008 plunging bilateral ties between the two countries to an all-time low. Cricket suffered. India were scheduled to tour Pakistan in January 2009, but most players said they were reluctant to go.
Sri Lanka stepped in and agreed to tour Pakistan instead, but a terror attack on the visiting team in Lahore on March 3, 2009, saw an end to international cricket in Pakistan. Since then, no international team has toured Pakistan. Even World Cup 2011 matches scheduled to be played in Pakistan were shifted to other venues in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
On the sidelines of efforts to revive bilateral ties between the two nations, the Pakistan Cricket Board has been pushing hard to resume cricketing ties with India and also bring back international cricket to Pakistan. Earlier this month, the foreign secretaries of both the countries had talked about resuming sporting contact and last week, PCB chief Zaka Ashraf made three offers - that India could tour Pakistan, or play them at a neutral venue, or then it could allow PCB to host their home series in India.
The PCB chief has held several meetings with BCCI president N Srinivasan. Later this year, the BCCI has invited Pakistan's domestic champion outfit the
Sialkot Stallions to participate in the qualifying Tournament of Champions League Twenty20 to be held in South Africa later this year.
For the last five years, India and Pakistan have only played each other in multi-team series and in the famous semi-final of the 2010 World Cup when India defeated Pakistan at Mohali.
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