India will not participate in a proposed triangular one-day tournament with Pakistan and Bangladesh in Dhaka in January, cricket board secretary Niranjah Shah said in Ahmedabad.
Shah said the Indian team had a very busy schedule in 2002 and it would have been unfair to ask the cricketers to play in the tournament which is proposed to be held from January 4 to 14.
"As it is, we have a busy schedule next year and I think it will be too taxing for our cricketers to take part in the triangular series," Shah said.
The decision is in consonance with the Indian stand of not playing with Pakistan since the Kargil conflict of 1999. India twice cancelled the bilateral annual one-day series in Toronto and then called off their scheduled tour of Pakistan in December in 2000.
Centre had clarified that the ban was limited to bilateral series between the two countries and to matches at 'non-regular venues' but the team also pulled out of the Asian Test Championship, a four-nation tournament also involving Pakistan.
Busy for the last one and a half years, India have a very hectic schedule early in 2002 with England returning for a one-day series in January followed by Zimbabwe in February. After that, the tours of West Indies and England are lined up. Bureau Report