India has rejected an invitation to play a three-match one-day series in Pakistan in March, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said on Sunday.

Pakistan asked India to play the matches from March 12 in Lahore [Images] after Australia's tour was reduced to under a month from 44 days.

"The president of the Indian cricket board, Sharad Pawar [Images], called up and spoke to the (PCB) chairman explaining the tour was not possible due to the tight schedule of the Indian players," a spokesman for the PCB said.

"The Indian board has said that their players have been on tour for the last three months and start a home series against South Africa from March 26 and are fatigued."

The spokesman said the Indian board had promised to play the three matches in Pakistan before the ICC [Images] Champions Trophy is held in September and October.

"Obviously we are disappointed because our players are already short of cricket activities. But we are hoping the Australians tour from March 29 will go ahead as scheduled," he added.

Australia are set to send a delegation to Pakistan to inspect the venues and security arrangements before they confirm their tour. Some of their players have concerns about playing in Pakistan.

Pakistan has also invited Sri Lanka [Images] to play a one-day series.