ICC fixes deadline for govt's policy on cricket ties with Pak

International Cricket Council president Malcolm Gray said in New Delhi on Thursday that India's refusal to play Pakistan would not have any bearing on the allotment of ICC tournament to this country though he fixed a deadline for the Indian government to clear its policy in the matter. "Not at all," he said when asked whether ICC would refuse to stage tournaments in India. "It is an altogether separate matter."

But Gray, who had a meeting with Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha last evening and Home Minister L K Advani today, admitted it would be difficult for ICC to reschedule the international calendar if the Indian government persisted with its decision of not allowing its team to play Pakistan.

Gray said he had fixed a deadline of April 30 during his meeting with ministers for the government to spell out a clear policy on the issue. "We must have an answer by April 30. We must be assured that if a tournament is organised in India, all nations are able to play in it," He said.

Yesterday, Sports Minister Uma Bharti, after a meeting with Gray, had formally invited ICC to stage its Knock-out tournament in India in September next year which would have Pakistan among the participants.

Bharti had parried questions on whether the government will allow Pakistan team to play in the country saying the tournament was still a long time away and a decision would be taken on the matter at the appropriate time.

Gray, who was accompanied by the former Board of Control for Cricket in India's president Raj Singh Dungarpur and current vice-president C K Khanna during his meetings with the ministers, said the issue of India's participation in Sharjah tri-series did not come up for discussions.

"It is not a matter of ICC. It is for the governments to decide on the foreign policy of a country and ICC realises they (the government) have to take into account enormous amounts of considerations," he said.

Gray, however, insisted that sports did have a role to play in improving strained relations between two countries.

The ICC chief said the world body was moving towards making umpiring in international matches "purely professional" for which a new system of selection of umpires would come into effect from April next year.

Gray congratulated the Indian team for its splendid Test series victory against Australia and said the 'wonderful cricket' played by both sides was a welcome relief from the allegations of corruption in the game. "Hopefully this is the style to go forward," he said.