MUMBAI: Pakistan have been pencilled in to tour India for a full series of Test and one-day cricket matches next year, in what would be a breakthrough in relations that were hit by the deadly 2008 Mumbai attacks.
The International Cricket Council governing body’s latest Future Tours Programme shows that the two South Asian rivals could play three Tests and five one-day internationals in March and April 2012.
India is designated as the host of the series, but an ICC spokesman said on Thursday that the list was provisional and indicated that the matches were likely to be played at a neutral venue. Any series would be organised entirely by both countries’ governing bodies, he added.
No one was immediately available for comment at the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
India last played Pakistan in this year’s World Cup semifinal at Mohali, beating them in a keenly-watched encounter attended by the two countries’ Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and Yousuf Raza Gilani.
Afterwards there were calls by players and politicians for the resumption of cricketing links, as millions of fans were missing out due to the nuclear-armed neighbours’ strained political ties.
