'Decision not to play in Ahmedabad is final'

Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Shaharyar Khan met Foreign Ministry officials in Islamabad on Thursday in a bid to resolve the tangle over Ahmedabad, which is slated to host one of the three Tests during the Pakistan team's tour of India next month.

Pakistan cricket officials refused to reveal the details of Shaharyar's meeting but categorically stated that the PCB chairman had not called on Foreign Minister Khursheed Ahmed Kasuri.

"Shaharyar visited the Foreign Ministry to seek their advice on the venues for the forthcoming tour of India. Shaharyar also proposed that if they [Foreign Ministry] permit, he would handle the issue of finalisation of venues," officials said.

The PCB chief's visit to Islamabad comes a couple of days after Board of Control for Cricket in India vice-president Rajiv Shukla called on Khan at the Gaddafi stadium in Lahore.

Prior to his meeting with Khan, Shukla had called on Pakistan's National Security advisor Tariq Aziz, who is a close aide of President General Pervez Musharraf.

"I have requested them to review their decision of not playing in Ahmedabad. I am sure if my request has reached honourable President Musharraf," Shukla had told reporters in Lahore after his meeting with Khan.

Shaharyar, a former diplomat, was also quoted as saying in the largest-circulated Jang newspaper on Thursday that 26 Indian venues, including Mumbai, are acceptable to him except Ahmedabad.

"The decision not to play in Ahmedabad is final," he said, dismissing reports that he had agreed to play a shorter version of the game in the city.

"I will seek a final advice from the Foreign Ministry on Ahmedabad," the newspaper quoted him as saying.