Pakistan tours India for Independence cup

Pakistan has confirmed its participation in the Independence Cup. This four-nation one-day tournament will witness the India-Pak match in Madras.

The tournament will be played at flood-lit grounds on a round robin format from May 9 to May 28. The other two participating teams are New Zealand and Sri Lanka.

The details of the event, finalised at the working committee meeting of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, were released by BCCI secretary Jagmohan Dalmiya.

The opening match between Pakistan and New Zeland will be played in Delhi. However, the Delhi District Cricket Association representative, Sunil Dev, was unable to give assurance about the availability of the Nehru stadium.

BCCI has given DDCA a cut off date of February 28 for the completion of three conditions. A guarantee from the sports ministry, which owns the Nehru stadium, that it will be exclusively made available to DDCA from this month till the day of the match. The athletics track should be adequately covered and the pitch should be prepared to international standard.

Dalmiya said if DDCA was not forthcoming with these basic demands then the match would be reallocated to Cochin.

The BCCI boss pointed that Pakistan has agreed to play the tournament on a reciprocal basis. India will have to participate in the Jinnah Cup later this year.

Pakistan has said it will not play any of its matches in Bombay and Bangalore, where they lost to India in the 1996 World Cup quarter-finals. They refused Bombay because of the repeated threats by Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray of not permitting Pakistan to play in the city. For Bangalore they cited unruly crowd behaviour.

The final of the Independence Cup will be a best-of-three event. The first will be held at Mohali, the second at Calcutta and the third, if required, again at Calcutta.

The schedule:

May 9: Pakistan vs New Zealand at Delhi or Cochin

May 13: Pakistan vs Sri Lanka at Gwalior

May 14: India vs New Zealand at Bangalore

May 17: India vs Sri Lanka at Bombay

May 20: Sri Lanka vs New Zealand at Hyderabad

May 21: India vs Pakistan at Madras

May 24: First final at Mohali

May 27: Second final at Calcutta

May 28: Third final at Calcutta, if necesssary.