India-Pakistan matches at neutral venues?

In an effort to revive truncated cricket ties with Pakistan, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has said that it will seek its government's permission to play Pakistan at neutral venues. Rajiv Shukla, a cricket administrator and a Member of Parliament, said that the board would soon approach Mr A B Vajpayee, the Indian Prime Minister, with the request.

The Indian government had banned bilateral cricket with Pakistan since 2000, in protest against alleged Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in the disputed state of Kashmir. However, the Indian team is allowed to play Pakistan in multi-national tournaments, as in the recently concluded World Cup. Direct sporting relations continue between India and Pakistan in other sports such as hockey.

Earlier in March, the Indian government had overruled another request from the BCCI to resume bilateral matches with Pakistan. The BCCI claimed that it could be heavily penalised by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for failing to fulfill commitments. In an embarrassing contradiction, the ICC promptly denied such a possibility, maintaining that it will not hold individual boards accountable for governmental decisions.

But with big money at stake, both the Indian and Pakistani cricket boards have increased their lobbying with the Indian government. "We want to somehow resume bilateral cricket," said Karunakaran Nair, the BCCI secretary. Nair said that senior board members would discuss the issue by the end of May. The matter is also expected to be discussed at the Asian Cricket Foundation (ACF) meeting in Dubai next week.