The Asian Cricket Foundation (ACF) on Sunday called off the Sharjah Tri-series involving India, Pakistan and Bangladesh due to delay in written confirmations from Indian and Pakistani cricket boards.

The decision to call off the tri-series, proposed originally to raise funds for the victims of the Gujarat earthquake, has already been communicated to the three respective cricket boards by ACF chairman Jagmohan Dalmiya, according to an ACF source.

In its communication, the ACF said that though all the three boards had agreed in principle to participate in the series being organised for a noble cause, "it has not received any written communication as yet from either the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) or the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)."

"In the absence of such confirmation and the time being too short in terms of organisational logistics, the ACF is compelled to drop the proposal of organising the triangular series in aid of the earthquake victims from February 8 to 11", the communication said.

ACF sources said with only three days to go for the start of the tournament, it would be impossible to hold it even if the two Boards confirmed their participation now. ACF, in its communication, also said the series was planned in a very short time during which there were various aspects that required to be looked into by the participating Boards that were outside the purview of ACF, including permissions from the respective governments. The concerned Boards had been advised to confirm their participation within two days of the proposal.

ACF had originally mooted the idea of holding a triangular series in Sharjah during its meeting at Lahore on February 1 to raise funds for the earthquake victims. Subsequently, the Indian Cricket Board approached the Centre for permission to participate in the series.

The government was expected to take a final decision on the Indian team's participation in the series after the return of the External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh from an official trip abroad on Monday.

© PTI