21 January 2005	Friday	10 Zilhaj 1425

MUMBAI, Jan 20: Pakistan will play Tests in Mohali, Ahmedabad and Bangalore on their first full tour of India for six years, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced on Thursday.

Pakistan, scheduled to arrive on Feb 25, will also play a five-match one-day series in Cochin, Vishakapatnam, Kanpur, Jamshedpur and New Delhi. The BCCI secretary Karunakaran Nair told reporters after a meeting that the order of the Tests and one-dayers would be decided after the Indian government cleared the itinerary on security grounds.

Nair said match dates announced last week were also subject to changes. The choice of Ahmedabad, in the western state of Gujarat, is likely to come under scrutiny as the venue has a record of past crowd trouble. Gujarat was rocked by India's worst communal riots for a decade in 2002.

"As far as we are concerned, it is okay," Kamal Morarka, chairman of the BCCI fixtures committee said. "It is up to the government to consider since it is an India-Pakistan matter.

A Pakistan security team will tour the venues before their cricket board gives its approval, he added. Pakistan have not played a Test series in India since 1999 because of political tension between the two countries. India embarked on their first Test tour of Pakistan for over 14 years last March and April as relations improved.

Meanwhile, Pakistani cricket official said on Thursday they had to wait for a report before clearing the riot city of Ahmedabad as one of the venues for the national team's first full tour of India in six years.

"I will not comment on any venue like Ahmedabad, or any other city for that matter, until our team gives us a report," said a PCB spokesman. Former captain Javed Miandad disapproved of using Ahmedabad for one of the Tests.

"Instead of Ahmedabad, which has always been a troubled venue, I would have liked Mumbai to have hosted a match, because it's a great, cricket-loving city," Miandad said. Miandad said major cities Mumbai and Kolkata should not have been excluded. -Agencies