KARACHI, Feb 11: World champions Pakistan will host India in a historic five-match blind one-day series from Feb 20 as a prelude to the senior series between the South Asian arch-rivals in March and April.

The Indian squad is scheduled to arrive in Lahore via Wagah border on Feb 18. The 40-overs per side matches will be played at Lahore (Feb 20), Karachi (Feb 22 and 24), Sheikhupura (Feb 27) and Rawalpindi (Feb 29).

Agha Shaukat Ali, chairman of the Pakistan Blind Cricket Council (PBCC), said on Wednesday that the basic idea of organizing the event was to foster a sense of belonging among the disabled persons.

"Our aim is to inculcate among normal people the fact that the unfortunate have a lot to offer to society," Shaukat said, who is himself completely blind. He expressed hope that the visit would reciprocate the warm welcome Pakistan team received when they toured India in December 2002 for the World Cup for the Blind.

Pakistan went on to beat South Africa by four wickets in the final at Chennai to lift the title. In a league fixture, Pakistan also defeated India before thrashing England by 134 runs in the semifinal.

Giving details of the team formation, he said: "A playing XI consists of four totally blind players, four partially sighted with vision between 45-60 per cent and three partially blind with vision in the range of 20-25 per cent.

"During a match, at least 40 per cent of the overs have to be bowled by those totally blind. The game is conducted mainly on the sound of the 90gm ball. Normally, the distance of the boundary from the centre wicket varies from 75 to 45 metres depending on the size of ground.

However, in this series, the average distance would be 60 metres." The forthcoming matches would be televised in both countries.