Pakistan willing to tour India this winter: Zia

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Tauqir Zia has put the Board of Control for Cricket in India in a dilemma by offering to tour India. He said this in an informal chat with reporters in Sharjah on Thursday after the Asian Cricket Foundation (ACF) meeting. Zia said "we are ready to play in India if invited in case the Indian team is unable to undertake the tour of Pakistan."

Zia however added "My own feeling is that the Indians will come to Pakistan. There is tremendous pressure on the Indian government from the public for going ahead with the tour. We have to go together as far as cricket is concerned," Zia said, adding he was willing to send a Pakistan team to play three Test matches and five one-day internationals this winter.

But his Indian counterpart, BCCI chief AC Muthiah remained non committal on the issue. Muthiah, who is also in Sharjah to attend the ACF meeting said "I will have to talk to the government. With the current state of relationship (between the two counbtries), the government has its own views in the matter."

Muthiah was of the view that the Indian team's tour to Pakistan depended on the government's clearance. In a guarded reply he said "If the government says yes, we will go ahead with the tour. The board has a limited choice in the matter. If I say anything more, it might be misconstrued."

In a related development, BCCI secretary Jaywant Lele said the board has received a confidential letter from the PCB regarding India's tour to Pakistan in December. Lele said the letter will be discussed at the forthcoming AGM in Chennai on September 29 and 30.

Earlier, the PCB had given a September 29 deadline to the Indian Board to take a decision on the vexed issue. Zia said "the PCB is willing to give the BCCI until September 29 to make up their mind, after which they will pursue alternative arrangements." Zia also said that in case India declined to tour Pakistan, ``the PCB will have to consider seriously the possibility of playing a series against Bangladesh or to invite a World XI to play against Pakistan."