BOMBAY, 21 January 2005 — 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 yesterday.

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.

Calcutta to Host Second Tsunami Charity Match on Feb. 13

Calcutta will host the second tsunami relief charity One-Day International between an Asian XI and a World XI, a top cricket official announced yesterday.

“The Indian government has given us the tax exemption that we had requested... and the match will be held in Calcutta on Feb. 13,” Asian Cricket Council chief Jagmohan Dalmiya said.

The first match was held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Jan. 10, raising an estimated $11 million.

The venue of the second match had not been announced pending the tax waiver from gate receipts by the Indian government, which was a condition set by the International Cricket Council.

The Gaddafi stadium at Lahore in Pakistan and Dhaka’s Bangabandhu national stadium were the other venues considered in case the Indian government did not grant the tax exemption.Other countries are also organizing matches in aid of tsunami victims.

New Zealand is hosting a three-match series against a World XI starting tomorrow. while England has announced a Twenty20 tie between an Asian XI and an International XI at the Oval on June 20.

Nearly 220,000 people were killed and hundreds of thousands made homeless by the giant tsunamis that hit Indian Ocean coastlines on Dec. 26 following an earthquake off the Indonesian coast.