ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has permitted the Pakistani cricket team to play a series against India in Sri Lanka next month, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) sources said on Thursday.According to a source in the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), the prime minister gave his approval for the India series only after Sri Lanka was finalised as the venue for the fixtures.”The Pakistan government never had a problem with the series going ahead. It only had reservations about the team travelling to India amid the prevailing tensions,” the source said.

Indian Premier League Chairman and BCCI functionary Rajeev Shukla told reporters the series is likely to happen from December 15 in Sri Lanka,IBNLive reported.

“India-Pakistan series will happen tentatively from December 15 in Sri Lanka,” he said.

Pakistan and India’s cricket boards have been deadlocked for months on a venue for the series. India had refused to play in the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan rejected the Indian board’s proposal to play the series in India.

Giles Clarke, who heads International Cricket Council’s Pakistan Task Force, organised a meeting in Dubai between the heads of two cricket boards last week where Sri Lanka was chosen as the venue.