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India and Pakistan will have to wait until next season at the earliest to resume playing against each other as a resumption of bilateral ties between the two countries remains on hold.
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Ijaz Butt travelled to India to meet with his Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) counterpart Shashoshank Manohar, although his request for the resumption of bilateral ties has been turned down, Manohar explaining to him that due to a packed schedule, there is little likelihood of the two teams meeting in the next seven to eight months.
After India complete their ongoing series against Australia, they host Sri Lanka for three Tests, five One-Day Internationals and two Twenty20 Internationals. Pakistan then tour Australia and New Zealand and both sides will be headed for the West Indies in April and May for the ICC World Twenty20.
A BCCI spokesman confirmed that the two countries would explore the option of a series in the 2010/11 season; India refused to send a team to Pakistan earlier this year in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks which were blamed on Pakistan-based militants.
The subsequent terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in Pakistan has led to other countries opting out of touring and Pakistan have played the West Indies and Australia on neutral ground and there is no series between India and Pakistan scheduled on the Future Tours Programme until after 2012, when the current calendar expires.
The two sides met in a warm-up match for the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 and again in the group stages of the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa, their last bilateral series ending in late 2007.
© Cricket World 2009
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