Pakistan to use India tour to test security

The Pakistan Cricket Board plans to use the scheduled Test and one-day series with India later this year to prove its capability of hosting the Champions Trophy. Pakistan still retain the rights to host the tournament after the International Cricket Council decided on Sunday to postpone the tournament, originally scheduled to be held from 12 to 28 September.

The ICC decision came after South Africa refused to send a team to Pakistan because of security fears, while several other countries were also considering withdrawals. Security experts from the ICC and the PCB had declared the country safe for cricket, but independent experts employed by countries such as Australia had declared that security was inadequate.

"The security concerns which exist now will be reviewed," said the PCB chief operating officer, Shafqat Naghmi. "We've offered to make the series against India a test case. The participating nations that have had security concerns have been invited to send independent security experts to review and assess the arrangements made for the series against India."

India play three Tests and five one-day matches in Pakistan in a series starting in Decemberr. "We are very confident that things will get better next year and we will deliver a memorable Champions Trophy," Naghmi added.