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BCCI plays safe, avoids hosting Pakistan in Maharashtra

The Board of Control for Cricket in India today decided to play it safe by not staging any India-Pakistan tie in Maharashtra during the forthcoming Test series, Asian Test Championship, and triangular series with Sri Lanka.

After a meeting of the BCCI working committee in New Delhi this afternoon, secretary J Y Lele said Pakistan would play two Test series and two three-day matches against the Board President XI and the India u-25 team.

He said the first Asian Test Championship involving India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka will be held from February 16 to March 16.

After the series, the BCCI will conduct the triangular series from March 19 to April 3.

Lele said the rules, regulations, and points system for the Asian Test Championship will be formulated by a three-member technical committee comprising of Sunil Gavaskar, Majid Khan and Asanka D'Mello.

He said the Union government has given its green signal to host a two-Test series between India and Pakistan after a gap of 12 years.

The first Test will be played at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground in Delhi from January 28 to February 1.

Though the dates for the second Test have been fixed -- from February 4 to 8 -- the venue will be either Kanpur or Madras.

BCCI joint secretary Jyoti Bajpai, who was also present at the press conference, said the government would take a final decision on Kanpur.

Kanpur is being considered because it is one of the five original Test centres in India and on the basis of rotation, it is Kanpur's turn to host the Test, but a lot depends on other factors.

Lele said a final decision regarding the venue of the second Test and about the two three-day matches would be announced in a few days. He made it clear, however, that Pakistan will not be playing in Maharashtra though Pune and Nagpur will be hosting one-day matches of the triangular series.

The BCCI secretary said that earlier it was decided to host a three-Test and five one-dayer series against Pakistan, but the Asian Cricket Council, which met in New Delhi on December 15, desired that in view of the World Cup next year, Sri Lanka should also get a chance to prepare for the event. Hence the decision to hold the Asian Test Championship and triangular series.

He said India would now get a chance to play four Tests. And if it reaches the final, it can play a fifth Test.

In the triangular series, India will be playing two matches each against Pakistan and Sri Lanka. "If we make it to the final, then we get to play the fifth match too," Lele said.

Lele said the final of the Asian Test Championship will be played at Dhaka, Bangladesh, from March 12 to 16. Bangalore will host the day-night final of the triangular series on April 3.

Following is the schedule of the matches of the visiting Pakistan cricket team, the Asian Test Championship, and the triangular one-day series:

Indian Tour:
Pakistani team arrives    Jan 21
Pak vs President's XI     Jan 23-25    Venue undecided
First Test                Jan 28-Feb 1 Delhi
Second Test               Feb 4-8      Kanpur/Madras
Pakistan vs India u-25    Feb 11-13    Venue undecided

Asian Test Championship:
India vs Pakistan         Feb 16-20    Calcutta
India vs Sri Lanka        Feb 24-28    Colombo
Pakistan vs Sri Lanka     Mar 4-8      Lahore/Karachi
Final                     Mar 12-16    Dhaka

Triangular one-day series:
March 19 at Jamshedpur
March 21 at Nagpur
March 24 at Jaipur
March 26 at Vizag
March 29 at Pune
March 31 at Mohali
Final on April 3 at Bangalore

UNI