Meanwhile, amidst tight security, the Indian cricket team arrived in Lahore last night for a 46-day tour of Pakistan with captain Rahul Dravid expressing confidence that his team would be able to maintain its recent winning streak. Nearly 300 gun-totting commandos and policemen escorted the team from the airport to the hotel. PCB officials welcomed the team that arrived without Virender Sehwag, Anil Kumble, Sourav Ganguly and Parthiv Patel, who are doing duty for their respective Ranji teams.

Neither Dravid nor Indian coach Greg Chappell made any comments on their arrival.

They will address a press conference in their hotel today.

The team didn’t undergo any custom checks although the players had to wait for some anxious moments for their luggage that got delayed due of heavy traffic at the Allama Iqbal International Airport. The roads leading to the team hotel were closed to traffic. As the Indian players reached the arrival lounge, nearly 1,500 fans greeted them with claps but no one was allowed to get close to any of the players because of security reasons.

PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan was among those who traveled in the flight from Delhi to Lahore.

The Pakistan International Airlines flight which carried the team made a delayed departure by nearly four hours and landed at Lahore at 9.55 p.m.

Indian domestic airline Air Sahara, a subsidiary of the national team's current sponsors Sahara India group, won an open bid invited by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

The deal marks a large increase from the previous sponsorship agreement of 780 million rupees (about $17m) for the last three years, BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah said.

It covers a minimum of 44 Test matches and 110 one-day internationals the Indian team will play over the next four years, starting with the tour of Pakistan from January 6.

"Team India is a brand on the rise and very popular with sponsors," Shah told AFP. "We are very satisfied with the deal."

The players will wear the Air Sahara logo on the chest and arm at matches and during practice and travel.

Sahara India spokesperson Abhijit Sarkar said the company was delighted to renew its contract with the Indian team.

"Sahara today is synonymous with Indian cricket," he said. "We got value for money during the deal that is coming to an end now."

The new BCCI regime, headed by political heavyweight Sharad Pawar, hoped to raise another $80m a year through the sale of television rights for international matches in India.

Bids for the TV rights will be finalised by the end of the month, Shah said.

Cricket-mad India, with huge television audiences, is the biggest market for the sport in the world. (News24)

CRICKET
Pakistan clinches one-day series

RAWALPINDI, DEC 19 (AFP): INZAMAM-ul-Haq hit a defiant unbeaten half-century as Pakistan outlasted England by 13 runs to take an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series.

The swashbuckling right-hander hit seven fours and a six in a fighting 81 to help Pakistan score 210 and then survived a late revival by England tailenders before finally wrapping its innings at 197.

Pakistan won the second match in Lahore by seven wickets and the third by 165 runs in Karachi, while England won the opening game in Lahore by 42 runs. The fifth and final match will be played at Rawalpindi.

Pakistan registered its hat-trick of one-day series wins after beating India 4-2 and West Indies 3-0 early this year.

England, who won the Ashes against Australia in September this year, again faced a showdown as its best batsmen failed to chase a modest total on a slow paced pitch.

The tourists lost wickets at regular intervals and only all rounder Andrew Flintoff (40) topscored in an otherwise disappointing display of batting.

Rana Naved removed opener Matthew Prior (six) and Andrew Strauss (nought) off successive balls in his third over to dismiss any hopes of England levelling the series.

Fellow paceman Shoaib Akhtar then bowled Vikram Solanki (six) before super-sub Arshad Khan dismissed Marcus Trescothick (23) in the same manner to leave England struggling at 4-70.

Paul Collingwood too failed, as he hit Mohammad Sami straight to Shoaib Malik at point after scoring just six.

Ian Blackwell (29) and Kabir Ali with a career best 39 not out initiated a rearguard action with a ninth wicket 50-run partnership and then 33 were added for the last wicket before Pakistan wrapped up the match.

Pakistan owed it to skipper Inzamam who added 60 for the fifth wicket with Shoaib Malik (23) and 56 for the sixth with Afridi who made 33-ball 34 to help Pakistan recover from a precarious 4-58.

Inzamam, who won the toss and decided to bat, showed defiance and aggression during his 113-ball knock, hitting seven fours and a six, after coming to the crease with Pakistan reeling at 3-34.

Pakistan had crawled to 34 without loss by the 11th over, but then lost three wickets in the space of seven balls without adding any runs.

Salman Butt (15) failed to beat Vikram Solanki's throw from covers at the striker's end after being called for a quick single by fellow opener Kamran Akmal.

Younis Khan edged Andrew Flintoff's next ball onto his stumps, while James Anderson bowled Akmal in the next over with a sharp incoming delivery.

Akmal, who hit successive hundreds in Pakistan's seven wicket and 165-run wins in the second and third matches respectively, managed 18.

Paceman Ali, who replaced unfit Steve Harmison in the match, then grabbed the prized scalp of Mohammad Yousuf (11) to leave Pakistan struggling at 4-58.

Malik fell to a full toss catch off Blackwell, while Afridi hit two sixes before he became one of Liam Plunkett's two successive wickets.

Naved hit a six and two boundaries before England took the last three wickets for two runs to dismiss Pakistan in 47.2 overs.

Scoreboard (at stumps)
Pakistan
S BUTT run out 15
K AKMAL b Anderson 18
Y KHAN b Flintoff 0
M YOUSUF lbw b Ali 11
I UL-HAQ not out 81
S MALIK c Strauss Blackwell 23
S AFRIDI b Plunkett 34
A RAZZAQ b Plunkett 0
R NAVED-UL-HASAN c Collingwood b Ali 17
S AKHTAR c Collingwood b Flintoff 0
M SAMI c Jones b Anderson 0
Extras: (5lb, 4nb, 2w) 11
Total: 210
Fall: 34, 34, 34, 58, 118, 174, 174, 208, 209.
Bowling: Flintoff 1-20-2, Anderson 8.2-2-26-2, Plunkett 9-0-45-2, Kabir 10-0-51-2, Blackwell 6-0-35-1, Collingwood 5-0-28-0
Overs: 47.2
England
M TRESCOTHICK b Arshad 23
M PRIOR c Akmal b Naved 6
A STRAUSS lbw b Naved 0
V SOLANKI b Akhtar 6
A FLINTOFF lbw Afridi 40
P COLLINGWOOD c Malik b Sami 6
G JONES c Naved b Afridi 12
I BLACKWELL run out 29
L PLUNKETT lbw b Afridi 7
K ALI not out 39
J ANDERSON c Younis b Akhtar 11
Extras: (4lb, 2nb, 12w) 18
Total: 197
Fall: 13, 13, 25, 70, 77, 99, 106, 114, 164.
Bowling: Akhtar 9.0-47-2, Naved 10-1-38-2, Sami 9-1-44-1, Arshad 10-2-21-1, Afridi 7-0-34-3, Malik 3-0-9-0
Overs: 48.1
Result: Pakistan beat England by 13 runs
Super-sub: James Anderson (ENG), Arshad Khan (PAK)
Toss: Pakistan
Umpires: Rudi Koertzen (RSA) and Tony Hill (NZ)
TV umpire: Asad Rauf (PAK)
Match referee: Jeff Crowe (NZ)