The Board of Control for Cricket in India says resumption of India-Pakistan cricketing ties could be "round the corner", as it is getting "positive indications" from the government, which recently cleared the junior team to play three tournaments involving its arch-rivals.
"I have been getting positive indications from the government about the resumption of bilateral cricketing ties with Pakistan. Though the government is yet to give the final permission, I think it may be round the corner," BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya told reporters in Kolkata on Tuesday.
Dalmiya, who announced the name of electronic major Videocon as the sponsor for the three tournaments involving India and Pakistan besides leading Asian countries, said the tournaments could prove to be the stepping stone in normalising stalled cricketing relations between the two nations.
"Maybe, this package of three tournaments will be the stepping stone to senior level Indo-Pak cricket," said Dalmiya, who is also chairman of the Asian Cricket Foundation -- the marketing arm of the Asian Cricket Council.
Asian Cricket Council Chief Executive Syed Ashraful Huq, who was also present at the press meet, stressed on the need for resumption of cricketing ties between the two countries.
"I thank India's external and home ministries for giving the green signal for these tournaments," he said.
"If these two countries don't play between themselves then the concept of ACC will become meaningless.
"I hope that successful hosting of these tournaments will pave the way for the Indian team to play in Pakistan and vice-versa. It is the aspiration of the entire ACC family that India and Pakistan battles should resume," Huq said.
Dalmiya said the Asian cricket package kicks-off with a tournament featuring the Academy teams of India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, to be played in Colombo from September 27 to October 5.
It will be followed by a tourney involving the under-19 squads of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in Lahore, from October 31 to November 6.
The third and last meet will be held in India in December among the 'A' teams of Sri Lanka, Pakistan and India. The venue and exact dates of this tournament is yet to be decided.
The detailed itinerary of the competitions would be announced soon, Dalmiya said.
Dalmiya said the under-19 tournament assumes greater importance as it will be the preparatory meet for the junior World Cup, to be staged in Bangladesh in February next year.
He said India will also host the under-17 Asia Cup in February.
Besides, the Asia Cup will be organised in April next with four Test-playing nations India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka joined by two qualifiers -- Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates -- who bagged the top spots in the ACC Trophy.
Referring to the sponsorship deal with Videocon, Dalmiya said the tournaments would now be known either as Videocon Series or Videocon Trophy.
Incidentally, Videocon is the sponsor of the ensuing Test series between India and New Zealand as part of the consortium agreement recently finalised by the BCCI.
The company's vice-president (Marketing) Sunil Tandon was also present at the press meet.
