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Lahore: The UAE is being named as a likely venue to host a limited-overs cricket tournament featuring traditional rivals India and Pakistan. The two sides have not met each other in neutral venues ever since the Indian cricket board imposed a blanket ban on the Indian team playing in offshore venues such as Sharjah, Dubai, Toronto and Singapore in the late 90s. But Sharad Pawar, President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, yesterday said in Pakistan: "We have decided to resume one-day series games in neutral venues where there is a sizeable South Asian population and where there are people with a large following for the game. Feedback is critical
"[The venue] could be Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, New Jersey or California. The venue will be decided based on the support that cricket receives in that country and on the facilities available there. "But we will resume the one-day series as a means of spreading the game in these regions among the people from South Asia," Pawar added. "We are ready to play in UAE, but the Indian team must get clearance from our government for any venue that we decide to play." In 2000, the Indian Government withdrew the team from playing a tournament in Sharjah and also barred them from playing at "non-regular" venues. Asked whether the Indian Government would clear the team to play in Sharjah again, the cricket board chief said: "We are ready to play in UAE, but the Indian team must get clearance from our government for any venue where we decide to play."
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