Pakistan in India

PCB to send cricket legends to India

LAHORE - Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) will send 10 former cricket greats to India on the occasion of visit of Pakistan cricket team to India in December.

This decision was taken by Executive Coordination Committee (ECC) of the board which met here on Friday under the chairmanship of its president Chaudhry Zaka Asrhaf.

"The ECC decided to invite the legends of Pakistan cricket to witness the matches between India and Pakistan. The committee noted that these cricketers have rendered valuable services for Pakistan cricket and are asset for not only PCB but for the country as a whole. These players will be goodwill ambassadors for Pakistan cricket and can help in improving the cricketing relations between two countries. It was decided to invite two players for each venue," said PCB spokesman on Friday.

Those who will be invited for the matches are Hanif Muhammad, Imtiaz Ahmad, Majid Khan, Zaheer Abbas, Mushtaq Muhammad, Imran Khan, Javed Burki, Wasim Bari, Intikhab Alam and Sadiq Muhammad.

"The committee members hoped that this tour will bring both the cricketing nations closer and will play an important role in strengthening the future relations between both the countries," he said.

The ECC appreciated the tireless efforts made by the PCB chief for making this tour a reality as the bilateral cricket relations between India and Pakistan remained suspended for five years and since 2007 no bilateral series was played between the two countries.

The ECC also paid tribute to the President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari who is also the Patron of the cricket board for the staunch support that he provided being a great statesman. The committee acknowledged that for realization of this tour, after board-to-board understanding, an NOC from India government was required. The president played a key role in this regard.

The ECC also acknowledged the role of Foreign Secretary of Pakistan who raised this issue with his Indian counterpart in secretary level meetings between the two countries.

The ECC also decided to assign tasks to make necessary preparations for the tour. The national selection committee is given the task to finalize the team for the tour while an advance party will visit India before the tour to oversee the tour arrangements.