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 | | You are in: You are in: Cricket |
 | | Wednesday, 6 February, 2002, 16:29 GMT India asked to play Pakistan  India and Pakistan have rarely faced each other of late Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf has urged India to stop mixing sport with politics and reopen sporting links between the two bitter rivals. India and Pakistan have only played each other once at cricket in the last two years - in Dhaka, Bangladesh, during the 2000 Asia Cup. "I call on India to revive sports with Pakistan ... We are ready to play against India, even in India," Musharraf said at a function for the national hockey team. "Pakistan will be keen to play against Indian teams anywhere, anytime, including in India," he said. The Indian government vetoed all cricket matches with Pakistan - except in multi-team tournaments - after cross-border clashes in the disputed Himalayan state of Kashmir in May 1999. Since then it has refused to allow the Indian team to play in several limited-over series against their arch-rivals.
And the BCCI was forced to pull out of the Asian Test Championship after 11th-hour government intervention in August. Lower-key sports have seen the sides continue to face each other, though, and the Under-19 Cricket World Cup last month saw Pakistan beat their neighbours by two wickets. ICC demands Under the International Cricket Council's (ICC) 10-year tours programme, introduced last March, Pakistan are now due to host India in April 2003, with the return tour set for the following February. And, under ICC rules approved last October, the visiting country could be fined if it pulls out of the trip without good reason. Relations between the India and Pakistan saw cricket suspended between 1960 and '78 but they have since co-hosted World Cup tournaments in 1987 and 1996 (with Sri Lanka). Before the latest ban, matches between the two were massive draws in ex-pat centres such as Sharjah and Singapore. | | See also:  Internet links: The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Other top Cricket stories:  Links to more Cricket stories are at the foot of the page. | |
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