Karachi: Cricket organisers in Pakistan are planning to invite India for an international Twenty20 contest involving a couple of other Test playing nations in Canada next year.
Sports International Marketing (SIM), which is currently working on the successful staging of next month's four-nation Twenty20 tournament in Canada said Monday that they are working out the feasibility of another event in 2009 involving the arch rivals.
"The rivalry between India and Pakistan is the biggest in world cricket and we want to take it back to Canada," Noman Nabi, the company's chairman told IANS Monday.
Next month's Toronto quadrangular is to be played from August 14-17 with the West Indies, Bangladesh and hosts Canada being the other participants.
The event's organisers are also planning to stage a "tournament involving the five World Cup champions" in Canada in 2010.
Nabi said that his company is working on ambitious plans to lure the five World Cup-winning nations to North America and have them feature in a five-nation tournament there by 2010.
"We are working on the idea of having the five World Cup winners competing against each other in a tournament of champions in Canada within the next couple of years," he said.
The organisers are hoping that the Toronto quadrangular will serve as a launch pad for more international activity in Canada in the coming years.
"Canada has a sizeable population of Pakistani and Indian immigrants. The country also has a cricket history. We believe it's an excellent neutral venue for international cricket," said Noman.
He believes the idea of having a five-nation tournament involving the West Indies, Australia, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka — the five teams who won the World Cup in the past — could be materialised if the organisers managed to get permission from the International Cricket Council (ICC).
"The tournament will help us decide who are the champions of champions," he said. "We will soon be seeking ICC's clearance for such an event," he added.
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