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Chances are bright for the revival of bilateral matches between Pakistan and Indian cricket teams as the Indian government is likely to change its stance in this regard.

The Board of Control for Cricket In India (BCCI) president AC Muthiah told Dawn Wednesday that the Indian government had allowed its national team to play against Pakistan in multination competitions. The ice would further melt and the bilateral matches could also be resumed with the passage of time between the two countries, he hoped.

Muthiah, who is in Lahore to attend the Asian Cricket Council meeting to be held on May 25, denied that the cricketing relations between India and Pakistan could be termed as strained.

"We are here to attend the ACC meeting. The Indian team will be playing a match in the Asian Test Championship in Pakistan. So things are moving towards better relations", he said.

The BCCI president agreed that good cricketing relations between Pakistan and India would promote the game in the Asian region.

"Both countries are giants of the game in Asia and only their collective efforts can promote cricket in the continent", he said.

Replying to another question, the BCCI president said that it was premature to say that the newly elected president of the Bihar Cricket Association Laloo Prasad Yadav would succeed in holding day-night match between Pakistan and India at Patna, capital of the Bihar state. The match would only be allowed as a part of any multination contest, he said. Muthiah said that the BCCI did not receive any request from Bihar Cricket Association in this regard.

It may be mentioned here that Laloo Prasad Yadav, a former chief minister of Bihar has vowed to organize day-night match between Pakistan and India saying the religion and politics should not create hurdles in way of sports.

The BCCI boss said that there was no fear of postponement of the Indian cricket team tour to Sri Lanka due to a court's order of the host country, preventing the newly appointed interim administration from operating the cricket board's bank accounts. The decision, he said, was an internal affair of the Sri Lankans and would not affect the Indian tour.

The Indian team is touring Sri Lanka in August. He avoided to comment on the match-fixing scandals saying "I can't speak on such issues".

© Dawn