LAHORE - Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) will send 10 former cricket
greats to India on the occasion of visit of Pakistan cricket team to
India in December.
This decision was taken by Executive
Coordination Committee (ECC) of the board which met here on Friday under
the chairmanship of its president Chaudhry Zaka Asrhaf.
"The ECC
decided to invite the legends of Pakistan cricket to witness the
matches between India and Pakistan. The committee noted that these
cricketers have rendered valuable services for Pakistan cricket and are
asset for not only PCB but for the country as a whole.
These players
will be goodwill ambassadors for Pakistan cricket and can help in
improving the cricketing relations between two countries. It was decided
to invite two players for each venue," said PCB spokesman on Friday.
Those
who will be invited for the matches are Hanif Muhammad, Imtiaz Ahmad,
Majid Khan, Zaheer Abbas, Mushtaq Muhammad, Imran Khan, Javed Burki,
Wasim Bari, Intikhab Alam and Sadiq Muhammad.
"The committee
members hoped that this tour will bring both the cricketing nations
closer and will play an important role in strengthening the future
relations between both the countries," he said.
The ECC
appreciated the tireless efforts made by the PCB chief for making this
tour a reality as the bilateral cricket relations between India and
Pakistan remained suspended for five years and since 2007 no bilateral
series was played between the two countries.
The ECC also paid
tribute to the President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari who is also the
Patron of the cricket board for the staunch support that he provided
being a great statesman. The committee acknowledged that for realization
of this tour, after board-to-board understanding, an NOC from India
government was required. The president played a key role in this regard.
The ECC also acknowledged the role of Foreign Secretary of Pakistan
who raised this issue with his Indian counterpart in secretary level
meetings between the two countries.
The ECC also decided to
assign tasks to make necessary preparations for the tour. The national
selection committee is given the task to finalize the team for the tour
while an advance party will visit India before the tour to oversee the
tour arrangement