Cricket-India announce Windies tour to revive ties

By Amlan Chakraborty NEW DELHI, April 30 (Reuters) - India will tour West Indies in July-August for a four-match test series which will mark the resumption of bilateral ties between them, the cricket boards announced on Saturday. Relations between the two boards turned sour after a visiting Caribbean team pulled out midway through their 2014 tour of India over a protracted pay dispute with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB). The Indian cricket board (BCCI) immediately suspended all planned Caribbean tours and demanded nearly $42 million in damages from its West Indian counterpart already grappling with a fund crunch and a players' revolt. "BCCI is happy to resume their bilateral ties with WICB," BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur said in a statement, confirming all outstanding issues between the boards had been resolved. "We recognise that West Indies has a huge role to play in the development of cricket and we are happy to support their endeavours." BCCI president Shashank Manohar confirmed in an interview last week that India had dropped the damages claim. Dates and venues of the series was not disclosed but any contest against India translates into significant television revenue. "We are extremely delighted that concerns which arose due to the incomplete tour have been addressed and would like to thank BCCI for reviving our ties," WICB president Dave Cameron said in a statement. "West Indies cricket appreciates the support of BCCI and the cricket loving fans of the islands keenly look forward to witness some exciting contests between the two teams." Leading West Indian players nearly pulled out of the World Twenty20 in India over the rumbling row with their board before Darren Sammy and his men went on to win the tournament in Kolkata earlier this month. (Editing by Pritha Sarkar)