The draws of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Trophy pit Pakistan against India in the opening match of the knock-out gala.

The match between the former world champions will be played on Oct 5 in the tournament that is being staged at Dhaka's National Stadium. The opening event will, however, be played between England and Zimbabwe on Oct 1. The match would be a qualifier for the final stage and the winner will meet world champions Sri Lanka on Oct 4. The final of the competition, being participated by all nine Test playing countries and billed as second biggest event after the World Cup, will be played on Oct 9.

The match between Pakistan and India means that one of the teams would be eliminated from the tournament after their very first tie. To add woes to the worries, the winner of the match will play either Sri Lanka or England or Zimbabwe in the semifinal on Oct 7.

The draws of the tournament, according to PCB sources, have been prepared without taking consent of the participating teams. They said there was no criterion and the matches were fixed according to the whims and fancies of the local authorities. The board sources pointed out that the three sub-continent teams were fixed in the lower half while the rest of the teams were placed in the upper half. ``The draw seems to be a clash between sub-continent and rest of the World,'' they argued.

The PCB sources said they had no problems in facing India in the first game but added that the real thrill of the tournament would have been if the two sides had been placed in different halves with a possibility of meeting only in the final. ``More than half of the attraction (in the tournament) will be over after the Pakistan and India match,'' they believe.

The complete draws are:

Oct 24: Qualifying match between England and Zimbabwe.

Oct 25: Australia v New Zealand

Oct 26: West Indies v South Africa

Oct 27: Sri Lanka v qualifier (England or Zimbabwe)

Oct 28: Pakistan v India

Oct 29: first semi-final (winner of Oct 2 match v winner of Oct 3 match).

Oct 30: second semi-final (winner of Oct 4 match v winner of Oct 5 match).

Oct 31: final.

Informed sources said the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) were planning to organise all the match under lights. For this, deliberations were still in progress. However, if the lights could not be installed, the match would be played in sun light.