NEW DELHI, Sept 1: India’s cricket officials said on Monday they were planning to host international matches in Kashmir.

“We are seriously considering it,” Jagmohan Dalmiya, president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), said.

“The state government has told me the time is ripe to bring back big cricket to the valley and we may decide to host a Test match or one-day international there in the near future.”

Dalmiya, however, declined to set a time-table for staging an international in the Valley, saying “all factors will be taken into account before that.”

No matches have been scheduled in Kashmir during the upcoming Test series against New Zealand and the limited-overs triangular also featuring world champions Australia.

Australia and South Africa are due to tour India next year for Tests and one-day internationals. Srinagar has hosted two one-day internationals so far one against Clive Lloyd’s West Indies in 1983 and Allan Border’s Australia in 1986.

The Indian team, faced with hostile crowds at the Sher-i-Kashmir Stadium, lost both matches.

The full-throated support the West Indians received in 1983 prompted Lloyd to wonder if the match had been played in the Caribbean rather than in India.

The last domestic first-class match played in Srinagar was in October 1989 against New Delhi’s rule in India’s sole Muslim-majority state.

Jammu has never hosted a one-day international nor a Test match and has also not held a first-class match since November, 2001.

The recently-elected state government has pushed for holding sporting events in the Valley and two golf tournaments featuring the country’s top stars were staged successfully in the last 12 months.—AFP