Thiruvananthapuram: It is for the BCCI selection committee to decide on the issue of forming separate teams to play Test matches and ODI's, BCCI secretary S Karunakaran Nair, said on Fridays.

Responding to a question in this regard, Nair told a meet-the-press programme here that some experiments in this direction were already being made.

The mainstay of the Indian batting line-up in ODI's like Yuvaraj Singh and Mohammed Kaif, were not on the Test side, he said adding that it was up to the selection committee to take a decision on the issue.

Nair said the performance of the Indian team was promising in the wake of the victories registered in the Natwest Trophy, the ICC Champions Trophy and in the current Test series against the West Indies.

The Indian team would leave for a tour of New Zealand this year where it could get more practice on pitches of different nature ahead of the World Cup in South Africa and Zimbabwe next year, he said.

He admitted that India presently did not have pitches similar to those in South Africa. "The Indian team has generated a good spirit and they are on a winning path. We hope that this would last till the next World Cup," he said.

South Africa would play host to the World Cup from February next. Asked whether the cricketing ties with Pakistan would be revived, Nair said the BCCI could only abide by the government's decision in this regard. "There should be specific instruction from the government to revive the ties," he said.

On the issue of Gujarat being allocated three ODI's between India and West Indies, Nair said it had been done only on a rotational basis as per the BCCI rules.

Asked why three One-dayers of a seven-match schedule were allotted to a single state, he said Gujarat had three cricket associations and under the BCCI procedure international matches would be allocated strictly on rotation. The new rotation formula has been in vogue since September 2001.

To a query on players getting tired after being exposed to more games, Nair said the ICC was allotting matches on reciprocal basis after consultations with captains of all teams, coaches and organisers of member countries.

A team would play a maximum of 35 One-dayers and seven Test matches in a calendar year, he said.

Nair, who is also the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) president, said the KCA had launched a four-year `Vision 2005' programme to develop infrastructure facilities for promoting cricket in the state.

A stadium to hold national-level matches was proposed to be built at Thiruvananthapuram with the co-operation of Kerala University and sports council.

An indoor cricket-training centre would be set up at the Kerala Varma college at Thrissur and turf wickets would be laid for training in all district centres.

The Greater Cochin Development Authority's (GCDA) multi-purpose Jawaharlal Stadium at Kochi could be turned into a Test venue if the GCDA provided more facilities. Three One-day International matches had already been successfully conducted there, he said.

PTI