NEW DELHI, July 2: South African former president Nelson Mandela may be asked to persuade India and Pakistan to resume cricket ties amidst border tensions between the South Asian neighbours, officials said on Tuesday.

India’s refusal to play cricket against Pakistan in protest at Islamabad’s alleged support of insurgency in the disputed region of Kashmir has quashed the most sought-after rivalry in the sport.

It has also played havoc with the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) ambitious 10-year Test calender, besides causing millions of dollars of lost revenues from sponsorship and television rights.

The ICC first mooted the idea of roping in Mandela to mediate three months ago, and the proposal was taken up by the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) meeting in London on Sunday.

“We will try through Nelson Mandela to convince India to end its cricket boycott of Pakistan,” said the ACC’s newly-elected president, Ali Asghar of Bangladesh.

“The resumption of cricket between India and Pakistan is an issue of immense importance for the ICC and the ACC.”

ICC’s media manager Mark Harrison confirmed that overtures had been made to Mandela, but it was not clear if the octogenarian Nobel Peace Prize winner had agreed to mediate.

“Yes, this was discussed in the ICC meeting but I cannot update it further. The ICC is doing its best to get cricketing ties resumed between India and Pakistan,” he said.

India and Pakistan last played cricket against each other in Bangladesh two years ago.—AFP