Pakistan hosts India for blind series

LAHORE: India and Pakistan resumed cricketing ties Friday after three years -- albeit on a low level – by fielding their blind teams for an international series kicking off with a
fast-paced Twenty20.

Pakistan has hosted no major international cricket over security fears posed by Al-Qaeda and the Taliban since 2009, and India stalled direct cricketing ties after militant gunmen killed 166 people in Mumbai in late 2008.

But Pakistanis hope that a trouble-free, limited over series for blind and partially-sighted players from November 18 to 26, will convince others that the country is safe enough for mainstream sporting giants to return.

"It's a historical day for us," chairman of the Pakistan Blind Cricket Council (PBCC), Syed Sultan Shah, told AFP at the Lahore Gymkhana cricket ground in the eastern city of Lahore where a crowd of 250 cheered on play.

Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Zaka Ashraf is set to meet his counterpart in India later this month as both countries try to settle a series as early as next March despite a hectic schedule for world champions, India.