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CBFS willing to reschedule tri-series
Jan 08, 2001, 14:15 Hrs (IST)

Dubai: The tri-nation Sharjah cricket tournament involving India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, which was to begin on April 4, has been rescheduled following a request from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The tournament will now begin on April 8 in view of India's engagements with Australia in a domestic series till April 6.

''We have received a request from the Indian Cricket Board to shift the dates of the tournament as Australia will be playing India in One-day International matches till April 6,'' Cricketer Benefit Fund Series chief executive Zahid Noorani 'Gulf News'.

Both Pakistan and Sri Lanka have also been informed about the change in dates. ''We have informed Pakistan and Sri Lanka about the shifting of dates. Since the teams have no commitments during this period, we hope their respective Boards will agree to the suggested change of dates, '' he added.

However, the CBFS was yet to get a reply from the two teams in this matter. The newspaper had recently reported that Australia's tour schedule overlapped with the Sharjah tournament dates and that India was planning to request the CBFS to revise the dates of the desert tourney.

The schedule sent to the Australian Cricket Board (ACB) for approval indicated the tour would end on April 6 though the triangular series in Sharjah was to commence from April 4. The ACB approved the schedule and sent it back to India and only then did the Indian Board realise the mistake.

BCCI secretary J Y Lele, when contacted, had stated that the Australian tour schedule, which had appeared in some sections of the press, was an unofficial one and that the official schedule would only be released on January 22.

High-level discussions to drop a few matches to ensure that India reach Sharjah before April 4 also failed as none of the state associations in India wanted to forego the match allotted to them.

There were also reports that BCCI were planning to drop from Australia's schedule a match against the Board President's XI at Kochi to enable the Indian team to reach Sharjah before April 4.

Meanwhile, Kerala's representative in the BCCI S K Nair, was quoted as saying in the newspaper that ''Kerala will not be hosting the Australia-Board President's XI match in Kochi as we had recently staged a One-day match against South Africa''.

As per the BCCI's rotation system in allocation of matches, it was another South Indian state's chance to host a touring team, he said.

Mr Nair said Kerala was expecting an important match during the England tour of India. ''We will be hosting a One-day International when England is to tour India in November this year'', he added.

The rescheduling of the Sharjah tournamnet indicates that the BCCI are keen to participate in the tri-nation championship and were not opposed to playing against Pakistan. It is to be seen whether the Government will clear the tour to Sharjah, against the backdrop of its refusal to allow the team to go to Pakistan for a two-month tour last month.

The Government has taken the view that there was no point in having sporting links with Pakistan unless the neighbouring country stopped fomenting trouble on the Indian soil.

This will be the last tournament for both India and Pakistan in Sharjah before their three-year contract with the CBFS becomes due for renewal. However, India say they have so far not taken any decision on the renewal of the contract.

UNI