KARACHI (Reuters)
The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) has said its Asian Test Championship will remain unchanged despite India's decision not to allow their team to play Pakistan in Lahore next month. "The championship will go ahead as planned and the schedule remains unchanged. The matches India was supposed to playwould now be treated as walkovers," ACC secretary Zakir Hussain Syed told Reuters.

India's cricket board said they would abide by their government's decision not to play in Pakistan. If the match had gone ahead it would have been the first meeting between the arch rivals on Pakistani soil since 1989. "The (Asian Test Championship) will be played as planned. The Bangladesh team is already in Pakistan and they kick off the event with the Test at Multan," Syed said.

New Delhi had previously said it had no objections to India playing Pakistan in multilateral tournaments. "What is disappointing is that at the ACC meeting in Lahore on May 25, the Indian Board President gave us a letter from the Indian government which said it had no objection to India playing Pakistan in any multilateral tournament," Syed added.

"It was after this official clearance from the Indian government that we drew up the (competition) schedule. We even decided against having the final at Dhaka on the request of the Indian board. "And now they pull out at the last moment. What can one say, it is irrational," Syed added.

Cricket relations between India and Pakistan have been strained for some time, with India not playing in the Sahara Cup in Toronto in September 1999 and then pulling out of a Test tour to Pakistan last winter. They also withdrew from a one-day triangular tournament in Sharjah in April because Pakistan was one of the participating teams.

"What I don't understand is when the Indian government can allow regular sporting contacts in hockey, snooker, volleyball, football, why is cricket being singled out?" Syed said.

Syed said that India's withdrawal would be discussed at the next ACC meeting scheduled in October. The ACC has previously been troubled by the standoff between India and Pakistan whenever it has staged tournaments in either country.

In 1990/91, Pakistan boycotted the Asia Cup held in India, while India then refused to play in the same tournament two years later when it was held in Pakistan. The ACC's inaugural Asian Test Championship in 1999 was a success when Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka all took part, with Pakistan winning the final held in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka.

The championship starts next week with Pakistan hosting Bangladesh. Sri Lanka are also taking part.

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