BOMBAY (Reuters)
Indian cricket authorities have asked their government for permission to play a Test match in Pakistan in September, their first on Pakistani soil in 12 years, a leading cricket official has said.

Sporting ties between the rivals are strained because of political tension over the disputed Himalayan state of Kashmir.

India are scheduled to play Pakistan in an Asian Test championship game in Lahore in September, but it is uncertain whether the government will allow the trip.

"We have written a letter to the government on July 26 for approval and we are waiting for a reply," Jaywant Lele, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), told Reuters. "If they (government) give us permission we go, otherwise we don't," Lele said, adding that BCCI expected the sports ministry to reply within two weeks.

The Indian government has refused to allow bilateral cricket matches between the two teams but said it has no objection if they happened to meet in a multilateral event. The Asian Test championship also involves Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

The issue of cricketing ties was expected to be raised in last month's summit meeting between Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, but it did not figure in the talks.

The Indian government had denied permission for a proposed Test tour of Pakistan late last year and a one-day tournament in Sharjah also involving Pakistan early this year.

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd