PCB refrains from commenting on India's stand

The Pakistan Cricket Board on Tuesday refrained from commenting on India's reiteration of the ban on bilateral cricket series and announced the list of probables for the forthcoming Asian Test championships with former captains Wasim Akram and Moin Khan being the notable omissions.

"This is not the time to for us to join issues. But at the same time, we are very confident that Indian team will arrive here to play in the Asian Test championship (ATC) match scheduled to take place between September 13 and 17," a PCB official told PTI from Lahore.

Minister of State for Sports Pon Radhakirishnan had on Monday reiterated the Government's stand disallowing its cricket team to play in bilateral series with Pakistan.

India is scheduled to play Pakistan in Karachi in the Asian Test championship which is a multi-lateral tournament involving Sri Lanka and Bangladesh too. The Government has allowed the Indian team to play Pakistan in multi-lateral tournaments.

The PCB announced 27 probables for the ATC, which begins with a match between Pakistan and Bangladesh on September 1, but gave no reasons for the omission of Akram and Moin.

The ATC schedule: Sept 1-5: Pakistan vs Bangladesh in Pakistan, Sept 13-17: Pakistan vs India in Pakistan, Sept 21-25: India vs Bangladesh in India. Oct 2-6: Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh in Sri Lanka. Jan 31-Feb 4: Sri Lanka vs Pakistan in Sri Lanka. Feb 7-11: India vs Sri Lanka in India. Feb 15-19: Final (venue to be decided later).