The cricket boards of India and Pakistan have been provided with alternate programmes by the International Cricket Council in case of cancellation of any scheduled series between them in the 10-year calendar.

Both India and Pakistan have been given the option to reschedule their matches with other countries in the event of a cancellation due to political reasons, Chris Doig, the outgoing Chief Executive of the New Zealand Cricket Council and the brain behind ICC's 10-year calendar, was quoted as saying in "The News" in Islamabad today.

Accordingly, both Boards have been provided with a list of countries which would be free of any international commitments during that time and would be willing to play them, the newspaper quoted Doig as saying.

"If India or Pakistan do not play a series because of government directives, then they can choose to play an alternate series against any of the countries who are free during that period. We have provided the list of these teams to both the Boards," Doig said.

The 10-year calendar, which ensures that all the ten Test playing nations play each other at home and away once every five years, was adopted at the Executive Board meeting of the ICC in Melbourne last month. According to the calendar, India and Pakistan are scheduled to play four series with each other in the next ten years.

The Pakistan Cricket Board had initially objected to the proposal saying there was nothing in it to prevent a country from pulling out of a series causing financial losses to the other team.

© PTI