Pakistan to tour India in December

Indian cricket chiefs on Monday said they had invited Pakistan for a series later this year, their first in five years, in a further sign of improving ties between the neighbours.

Indian cricket chiefs on Monday said they had invited Pakistan for a series later this year, their first in five years, in a further sign of improving ties between the neighbours.

If approved by the two governments, the series would comprise three one-day internationals and two Twenty20 games in December-January, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said.

"It was decided to resume cricketing ties with Pakistan by inviting the Pakistan cricket team for a short series in December 2012-January 2013," the BCCI said in a statement. "The modalities will be worked out shortly."

The rivals have not played a bilateral series since Pakistan's tour of India in 2007 after cricket ties were snapped following the 2008 terror attacks on Mumbai, which were carried out by militants from Pakistan.

The ODI matches will be played in Chennai, Kolkata and New Delhi and the Twenty20 games in Bangalore and Ahmedabad, BCCI spokesman Rajiv Shukla told reporters in New Delhi.

The series will be held when England, who are due to tour India later this year, return home briefly for Christmas and New Year.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) swiftly welcomed the proposed series, which will now require approval from the Indian foreign affairs and home ministries.

PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf told local television channels that Pakistan was still waiting for a formal invitation, but said "it seems it will surely be held later this year".

But former India captain Sunil Gavaskar slammed the decision to play cricket against Pakistan, saying Pakistan was still not cooperating in the Mumbai attacks probe.