The Indian cricket board is optimistic about the resumption of India-Pakistan cricketing ties in a neutral venue such as the UAE, but is in no position to put a date on this happening.
“We have had a discussion in the working committee about a proposal from the Pakistan board to host some matches in the UAE, but nothing has been confirmed as yet,” Ranjib Biswal, Chairman of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and a senior functionary of the board, said in an interaction with the media on Monday.
The return of Indian cricketers to the UAE for the IPL 2014, which ended an eight-year drought, is being seen as a precursor to a possible series between the arch-rivals in the UAE.
Endorsing the view, Sunil Gavaskar, the interim president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), said: “I’m certain the success of IPL will make the BCCI look at it in a different way than in the past. I think there is a move afoot to have a series against Pakistan, but I don’t have any details.”
The last time India and Pakistan played in a bilateral series here was a two-match One Day-International series in 2006 to mark the inauguration of Shaikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
