Lahore, May 07: Former India skippers Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri will skip the two-day ''international cricket development'' seminar starting here on Sunday. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Jagmohan Dalmiya's participation in the seminar also looked doubtful as he has not sent any confirmation yet even though the seminar starts just a couple of days later.

Gavaskar and Shastri have cited personal reasons to skip the event and have informed the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) that they won't be available. Interestingly, neither did the BCCI chief nor Gavaskar visit Pakistan during the Test and ODIs series against India Pakistan despite special invitations.

A section of the local media attributes Dalmiya's reluctance to attend the seminar to the fact that ICC awarded the event to Pakistan even though BCCI had a strong desire to hold it. Bangladesh Cricket Board president Mohammad Ali Asghar has already arrived here while ICC president Ehsan Mani and chief executive Malcolm Speed will reach here tomorrow.

Delegates from 25 countries are expected to attend the two-day seminar that concludes on Monday.

Bureau Report