Shaharyar Khan invites BCCI to Pakistan

Key officials of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and some government dignitaries were invited by chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Shaharyar Khan to attend a match of Pakistan's home series against Zimbabwe in Lahore. This invitation was extended in order to better the relations between the two boards and subsequently work towards the revival of the Indo-Pak series, that will take place later this year.

A reliable source in the PCB confirmed this development and told PTI, "We are hopeful that Arun Jaitley or Anurag Thakur will come to Lahore as our special guests for one of the limited-overs matches against Zimbabwe in Lahore later this month."

Zimbabwe's tour to Pakistan begins of May 19 and they are supposed to play 3 ODIs and 2 T20Is in Lahore. Khan arrived in India to garner support for the Indo-Pak series in December and met BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur (also a member of the ruling BJP party)in New Delhi and several other key officials.

Khan had also met with BCCI President Jagmohan Dalmiya during a visit to Kolkata and expressed his thoughts over the issue of Pakistani players not being a part of the Indian Premier League setup.

"Dalmiya has assured that he will look into the matter and it would also be discussed at the next working committee meeting of the Indian board," the source added. Khan, who has once been High Commissioner of Pakistan believes that it is crucial for the development of Pakistan cricket that the Pakistani players be allowed to play for franchises in the IPL.