Pakistan ODI captain Azhar Ali seeks revival of cricketing ties with India

After Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq,Pakistan s one-day skipper Azhar Ali is also keen to see a revival of bilateral cricketing ties with India.

Despite the Indian cricket officials ruling out any chances of a bilateral series with Pakistan at the moment after the terrorist attack in Gurdaspur, Azhar said it was every player s dream to play against India.

"It would be good for cricket if Pakistan and India play. We want to play because doing well against India is always special," the 30-year-old said.

But he pointed out that at the end of the day decision on cricket ties between the two countries was not for the players to make.

"It is in the hands of the cricket authorities and governments. If we can have a series with India it would be great," Azhar said. Pakistan s cricket community has largely spoken in favour of having cricket ties with India despite the tensions at the government level after the Gurdaspur incident.

"It is difficult to say at the moment whether we can have a series against India in December. Everything will now depend on what happens in the next few days after this Gurdaspur incident," the former Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, Najam Sethi, said.

"We have to wait and see whether sections of the Indian media or government start blaming Pakistan for this incident. But as far as cricket ties are concerned, decisions are made at last moment," he added.

Another former PCB Chairman Khalid Mehmood said it was unfortunate that cricket ties between Pakistan and India had always been affected by politics.

"What is noteworthy is that whenever India has to host us they manage to do it regardless of the situation between the two countries. The problems arise whenever it is time for Pakistan to host a series against them," Mehmood noted.

Former captain Rashid Latif said that he firmly believed in keeping sports and politics apart but unfortunately the reality was different. "Many of us would like to see sports and politics being kept apart but in the real world this doesn t happen or the Western bloc would not have boycotted the Moscow Olympics nor would England or Australia refuse to tour Zimbabwe in the past years," said Latif.

Pakistan all set to tour Zimbabwe in September

Pakistan will play three T20s, three ODIs against Zimbabwe between Sep 24 and Oct 5

HARARE, Zimbabwe - Pakistan will tour Zimbabwe for three Twenty20 matches and three ODIs between September 24 and October 5, Zimbabwe Cricket Chairman Wilson Manase of confirmed on Wednesday.

The teams were initially set to play the series between August 17 and September 7, but that plan was "unanimously" put on hold, presumably over Pakistan's unwillingness to jeopardise their qualification for the 2017 Champions Trophy.

As per the current schedule, the T20 matches will be played first, starting September 26, while the three ODIs will be played in the first week of October, beyond the cut-off date for the Champions Trophy. Pakistan are currently eighth in the ODI rankings with 90 points, and the result of the Zimbabwe series will not affect Pakistan's position.

"We have dealt with the tour outline with my PCB counterpart Shahryar Khan. The management of our respective boards will now continue to fine-tune the tour schedule," Manase said, adding that he was also talking to the West Indies Cricket Board over a possible home series against West Indies, given the free dates in August.

Pakistan had initially agreed to play a limited-over series in Zimbabwe this year during the only available window, in August. This was intended to reciprocate Zimbabwe's tour of Pakistan in May, which helped Pakistan host their first international series in the country in six years.

The confusion regarding Pakistan's tour of Zimbabwe arose when the Zimbabwe floated an idea of a tri-nation series involving West Indies, as the Pakistan Cricket Board was reluctant to play any series that could possibly harm their qualification for the Champions Trophy. To play it safe, the Zimbabwe proposed pushing the ODIs to October, an idea which was instantly accepted by the PCB.