Vajpayee to boost players

Kolkata, Mar 04: The Indian cricket team will meet Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee before leaving for their historic tour of Pakistan next week. "Considering the importance of this goodwill tour, the honourable Prime Minister would personally meet the team members and extend his good wishes to them," India's cricket board said in a statement on Wednesday.

India will begin their first full tour of Pakistan in more than 14 years next Wednesday, reviving bilateral games between the two neighbours which had remained suspended for nearly four years owing to political tensions.

The Indian government has cleared the tour to add momentum to a recent thaw in political relations between the two cricket-mad countries.

Bureau Report