The much awaited series between arch rivals Pakistan and India might get underway in March-April, 2012 since the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has got the approval from the government.
According to reports, vice-president of the BCCI Rajiv Shukla said: “We have the government’s permission for the series. There is no issue of government’s approval. In fact, the government has asked us to go ahead with the series against Pakistan.”
Shukla further added that the board would look forward to finalise the schedule after considering the Future Tours Programme (FTP) of the International Cricket Council (ICC). He added, “We are aware of the FTP but we still will have to create a window due to the hectic team schedule. The BCCI is considering it and it may be discussed in the annual meeting next month.” The two nations have not met each other in a bilateral series since 2007 due to the political tensions. However, they have gone head to head in several ICC events including the World Cup 2011. Both teams met each other in the semi-final of the mega event in India, which was won by the hosts. They also went onto win the final of the tournament against Sri Lanka. If the schedule is finalised, the arch rivals will play three Tests and five One Day Internationals (ODIs). The last series played between both countries was hosted by India, so the upcoming series will be considered as the home series for Pakistan. However, the Men in Green have been playing their home series’ away from the country due to the security reasons. The last team to visit Pakistan for a complete series was Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka visited the country in 2009, but were unable to complete the series after being attacked by terrorists in Lahore. A couple of players got injured, but luckily no bug harm was done in the end. There has been no cricket in Pakistan since that unfortunate incident, but conditions have improved in the country and a couple of teams have shown their interest in touring. On top of that list was the Zimbabwe cricket team, which wanted to play a bilateral series in Pakistan prior to the World Cup. However, the boards of the respective countries were unable to find a suitable schedule.
