BCCI gets 'confidential' letter from PCB

The Board of Control for Cricket in India has received a confidential letter from the Pakistan Cricket Board regarding India's tour to Pakistan in December.

BCCI secretary J Y Lele confirmed the receipt of the letter but apart from stating that it will be discussed at the annual general body meeting, to be held on September 29 at Madras, declined to divulge its contents, informing that it is not for public knowledge.

Lele, who may continue for another term despite being the most controversial BCCI secretary in recent times, denied having admitted to a foreign agency that the tour will be discussed in the AGM.

Lele, who has in the past denied making some outlandish statements attributed to him - - such as his disbelief that match-fixing was prevalent in India - - blamed the media for distorting his statements.

He said: ''They are writing what they want, and secondly do not ask me about the India-Pakistan tour because you people are only creating problems.''

Lele's outburst is the result of the piquant situation the BCCI finds itself in vis-a-vis the Pakistan tour. Before last year the BCCI had put the ball in Pakistan's court, stating that it must return the tour India did in 1989. Pakistan, despite protests in India, particularly threats from the Shiv Sena, journeyed early 1999 with aplomb and after squaring the series 1-1, beat India in the Asian Test championship.

Now the Pakistan Cricket Board is sending the same teasers to the BCCI following the Indian government's refusal to grant the team permission to play Pakistan in the Sahara series in Toronto.

UNI

Mail Cricket Editor