KARACHI: Pakistan are willing to tour India next year to break an impasse over the restoration of bilateral cricket ties between the countries, the country's new cricket chief said on Sunday.
" It is absolutely necessary for Pakistan and India to play bilateral matches and for this purpose if required we are even willing to send our team to India next year," Zaka Ashraf, the new chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), told reporters.
Before leaving for Dubai for a meeting with International Cricket Council (ICC) officials, Ashraf said he had written to the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
"I have sent a letter to the BCCI president, N. Srinivasan, urging him to work towards restoring bilateral ties as soon as possible," Ashraf said.
India froze bilateral cricket ties after 166 people were killed in the 2008 Mumbai attacks which it blamed on Pakistan-based militants. It also cancelled a full test tour to Pakistan in early 2009.
The ICC's future tours programme includes a Pakistan tour to India for a test series in March and April next year but, until now, the PCB has said it first wanted compensation for the cancelled 2009 tour.
"Cricket has always played a positive role in improving ties between us," said Ashraf. "I have requested the Indian board president to finalise the series as soon as possible."
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