Pakistan cricket Board (PCB) supremo Ijaz Butt will be meeting Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Shashank Manohar on Friday to discuss the troubled India-Pakistan series scheduled in Jan-Feb.
Both the board chiefs will meet at Colombo on the sidelines of the Asian cricket Council (ACC) meeting.
The relations between India and Pakistan has severely damaged after the recent terror attacks at Mumbai that shocked the entire nation. The terror strike has destroyed the cordial atmosphere between the two countries. The series supposed to be held on January is now under cloud because of security apprehensions.

Saleem Altaf, the PCB’s chief operating officer is highly confident of better results. He expressed hope that both boards will work together towards making the tour possible.

Altaf, the former Pakistan player said that the series is important for both the sides.

In the current circumstances, a final decision on the series will be taken by the two governments. But the meeting has got its own importance in making the clouds clear for the tournament.

Butt will leave for Colombo on Thursday for the ACC meeting. He will be officially announced as the ACC President in Colombo. The post was left vacant after the resignation of former ACC chief Nasim Ashraf as PCB chairman in August.

Butt is expected to discuss the issue of the 2011 World Cup with top cricket officials from India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Pakistan is to co-host the quadrennial spectacle along with the three Asian nations.

The recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai have put the chances of World Cup under black cloud, which is expected to bring out bitter consequences. Many teams including Australia has expressed doubts regarding the venues, which may result in black days of cricket. But anyhow, International Cricket Council (ICC) has denied the possibility of switching the World Cup venues.

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Andrew Flintoff dismissed the rumours regarding his decision to tour India and its relation with IPL ambitions. Flintoff, the English all rounder said his decision to tour India for the Test series has got nothing to do with his Indian Premier League dreams and asserted security would not be a distraction for his team mates in the series. England team has landed in India yesterday to play the two test series.

Flintoff, along with Steve Harmison and Graeme Swann, had reservations about touring India after the Mumbai terror strikes. But the talismanic all-rounder joined the Test squad after strong pressure from the team management. He said that his decisions are not influenced by IPL. While speaking to newspaper, he said that there was a safety concern in the beginning, and had doubts regarding the visit to India after the lethal terror strike in Mumbai that killed around 200. He said that for him, safety is more important than IPL.

Flintoff added that he took a decision after long discussion with his family. It was just a case of digesting it. But once the things regarding the tour were made clear, the issue was sorted out.  Flintoff’s comments came amid reports that the English cricketers shrugged off their reluctance to tour India in order to endear themselves to the IPL authorities. It was after strong persuasion and the promise of a foolproof security arrangement by the BCCI to the English cricketers that they agreed to come back to India for the series.  Flintoff admitted it would feel different to be surrounded by commandos all the time, but dismissed the comments that this would distract the attention of the players. He is confident that things will resume back to m=normalcy once the Test begins at Chennai on Thursday. He is confident of defeating India and sweeping the Test series.

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