IANS

MOHALI, March10: The Union Government has given the green signal for two Indo-Pak one-day internationals in Abu Dhabi to raise funds for last year's earthquake victims in India and Pakistan, a top Indian cricket board official said here on Thursday.

"We got the clearance on Wednesday from the government for these matches," said Lalit Modi, vice-president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

The matches will be played in Abu Dhabi on April 18 and 19. The proceeds from one match will go to the victims of the earthquake that killed thousands of people in India and Pakistan on Oct 8 last year.

The profit from the other match will be shared by the cricket boards of the two countries. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) will get 75 percent of the profit, while the Indian board will receive the remaining amount.

Modi also said soon India and Pakistan would start playing one-day internationals at offshore venues like Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Toronto and in many cities across the US and even in England.

"We are talking to the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) if we could play India-Pakistan matches in England," he said.

Asked if the government has cleared these offshore venues, Modi said the clearance was given on series to series basis.

"If some venue is not cleared, we will move on," he said.

He and Punjab Cricket Association president Inderjit Singh Bindra did not agree that the Indian team was playing too much cricket.

"We are not increasing the number of playing days of the team," said Modi.

"The International Cricket Council (ICC) has stipulated 12 Tests and 30 one-day internationals in a year and these matches would not be crossing that limit," said Bindra.