New Delhi: The thrill of watching an India-Pakistan cricket series on home ground is back. The BCCI has finalised dates for the Indo-Pakistan one-day cricket series in India, with the first match due to kick off on December 25, BCCI vice-president Rajiv Shukla announced on Tuesday.
India's home ministry has cleared Pakistan's short limited-overs tour in December-January, taking the series one step closer to reality. The clearance was given at a meeting between ministry officials and senior representatives of the BCCI - including its chief administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty, IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla and chief executive Sundar Raman - in New Delhi on Tuesday.
The five-match cricket series, including 3 ODIS and 2 T20Is in the two-week-long tour, will be the first to be held in India after the Mumbai attacks in 2008. Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore and Ahmedabad will host the matches, the last of which will is scheduled to be played on January 7.
Top BCCI officials led by vice-president Rajiv Shukla on Tuesday called on Union home secretary R K Singh to tie up the security arrangements for the matches.
Though India has played Pakistan in international events in the last few years, no Indo-Pakistan series was held in view of tension between the two neighbours after the 26/11 strikes.