LAHORE, Nov 2: Seeking to honour former players of the country, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to invite 10 renowned Test cricketers, including World Cup-winning Imran Khan, to witness matches of the forthcoming limited-overs series between arch-rivals Pakistan and India.

Pakistan are due to tour India for a short series comprising three One-day Internationals and a couple of Twenty20s during December-January.

The decision to invite former stalwarts was taken at PCB’s Executive Coordination Committee (ECC) meeting presided over by chairman Zaka Ashraf here on Friday.

The great names included in the invitees’ list are: Hanif Mohammad, Imtiaz Ahmed, Majid Khan, Zaheer Abbas, Mushtaq Mohammad, Imran Khan, Javed Burki, Wasim Bari, Intikhab Alam and Sadiq Mohammad. Though both Intikhab and Bari are also employees of the PCB, surprisingly, the name of Javed Miandad, PCB director general, is missing from the list.

Former Test fast bowler Sarfraz Nawaz is also not among the players invited to witness the brief yet potentially electrifying bilateral series between Pakistan and India after five years.

“The committee noted that these [former] cricketers have rendered valuable services for Pakistan cricket, and they are asset not only for the PCB but for the country too.

“These players will be the goodwill ambassadors for Pakistan cricket and can help in improving the cricketing relations between the two countries,” a PCB news release said.

Meanwhile, the ECC also welcomed the formal announcement by the BCCI to host the Pakistan team.

“The ECC hopes that this tour will bring both the cricketing nations closer and will play an important role in strengthening the future relations between the countries.

“The ECC also decided to assign tasks to make necessary preparations for the tour [to India]. The national selection committee has been given the task to finalise the team for the tour while an advance party will visit India before the tour to oversee the tour arrangements,” the ECC added.