New Delhi/Mumbai, Jul 16: The Board of Control for Cricket in India today decided to invite Pakistan's team to visit India in the third week of December to play three ODIs and two Twenty20 matches.
BCCI office-bearer Rajiv Shukla said, the three ODIs will be played in Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai and the two Twenty20 matches will be played in Ahmedabad and Bangalore.
"Our BCCI president M. Srinivasan will be speaking to his PCB counterpart to work out a final schedule", said Shukla.
Shukla said, Pakistan refused to play at neutral venues against India, and since the atmosphere in Pakistan presently is not conducive, the BCCI decided to invited the Pakistani team to tour India.
Already there is a slot available in December, when the England team will go home for a short duration to celebrate Christmas and New Year, and the Pakistani team will visit India, said Shukla.
Asked whether the Centre has cleared the tour, Shukla said, I have already spoken to Home Minister P Chidambaram and he has no objections, and so is the Ministry of External Affairs.
On BJP opposing the Pakistan team's India tour, Shukla, who is also Parliamentary Affairs minister of state, pointed out that the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley was also present at the BCCI working committee being the ex-officio DDCA chief, and was party to the decision.
Shukla pointed out that the BCCI and PCB have already good relations, and the Pakistani team has played matches in India in 2003 and 2004. "Even after the Kargil War, and the 1965 and 1971 wars, Pakistani cricket teams toured India", he pointed out.
"Even the public wants Indian and Pakistani teams to play against each other", he said.
Meanwhile, BJP and Shiv Sena today strongly opposed the tour saying that so long as the perpetrators of 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks are not brought to justice, India should not play cricket against Pakistan.
BJP leader Syed Shahnawaz Hussain said, Pakistan should first hand over Lashkar-e-Toiba chief Mohammed Hafiz Sayeed, the mastermind of 26/11 attacks, to India first and then send its team.
