Musharraf to discuss cricket relations

ISLAMABAD, MAY 31. Besides Kashmir, Pakistan's military ruler, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, will take up the deteriorating cricket relations between India and Pakistan during his visit to New Delhi, Pakistan's Sports Minister, Mr. S.K. Tressler, said here.

``Although the issue of Kashmir will top the agenda, the Chief Executive will also talk about cricket relations,'' Mr. Tressler told local media here on Wednesday night. The immediate issue would be the India-Pakistan Test Match to be held in September as part of the Asian championship.

Last week, the Indian board agreed to play the Test in Pakistan after a gap of 12 years. The commitment to play the match was given in writing by the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) chief, Mr. A.C. Muthiah, at an Asian Cricket Council (ACC) meeting in Lahore. The commitment was explained to be part of the Indian Government's policy of not restraining its team from playing against Pakistan except in bilateral series and at non- regular venues.

Doubts have arisen now about the match to be played in Karachi from September 13 to 17 after the Sports Minister, Ms. Uma Bharti, pulled up the BCCI for agreeing to play in Pakistan without the consent of the Government.

Gen. Musharraf, an ardent lover of cricket and who time and again expressed his wish to see normalisation of cricket relations, was expected to take up the issue with Indian leaders. He has said in the past that cricket provided great entertainment to people on both sides of the border and offered the best way out for normalisation of relations.

Earlier this year, cricketing relations between the two countries appeared heading for a complete breakdown, when reports of the Indian Government's decision not to play Pakistan in Sharjah last April evoked strong reactions from the Pakistan Cricket Board chief, Lt. Gen. Tauqir Zia, who threatened to severe all links with India in retaliation.

But Lt. Gen. Zia, a serving Corps Commander and a close confidant of Gen. Musharraf, mellowed down after the military ruler reportedly asked him to tone down his anti-India rhetoric. Though India later said it would not play against Pakistan in any bilateral matches, the PCB expressed its happiness over India's decision to play in multi-lateral tournaments.

Meanwhile, the Urdu daily Jang reported that Gen. Musharraf's wife, Ms. Sahba, may visit Lucknow to meet her friends and relatives.

- PTI

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