Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has approved the Pakistan Cricket Board's request to send the country's cricket team to Sri Lanka for a bilateral series against India, according to Pakistan-based Geo News. India is also seeking permission from their government to play their arch-rivals in a neutral venue next month. In 2014, both cricket boards had signed an MoU agreeing to play six-match series between 2015 and 2023, subject to governmental clearances.

At a meeting between the heads of two cricket boards in Dubai last week, Sri Lanka was chosen as the neutral venue. Giles Clarke, who heads the International Cricket Council’s Pakistan Task Force, had organised the meeting. India had earlier refused to play the series in the United Arab Emirates, where Pakistan hosts its home games. Cricketing relations between the two nations had been stalled in the wake of 2008 terrorist attacks on Mumbai, which New Delhi blamed on militants based across the border.