"I don't know why some people are making such speculation. We never even thought of it," Dalmiya told reporters at his Calcutta office.

"The matter was never discussed with Akram, nor has he ever broached the subject before us."

The Indian Express said in a front page story on Wednesday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had agreed to a request from captain Saurav Ganguly and coach John Wright to hire Akram for the upcoming tour of Australia.

"Why Akram? Simply because he is the greatest fast bowler of the modern era," the newspaper quoted Ganguly as saying.

The brilliant 37-year-old left-armer retired from cricket in May with 414 Test wickets and a world record tally of 502 wickets in the shorter version of the game.

Akram has signed by Rupert Murdoch's television company, ESPN-Star Sports, to commentate on India's four-Test series in Australia starting next month.

The news that India was considering hiring Akram had an immediate impact in Pakistan where a petition was filed in a civil court in Lahore to stop the cricketer from coaching Indians.

"India is our enemy, and for money Akram should not be allowed to coach the enemy," petitioner Najmul Abbas told the court.

"It is tantamount to a retired army official training the Indian army."

Abbas' lawyer Ansar Mahmood Bajwa told AFP: "Akram is like a nuclear weapon and with India due to come to Pakistan next year, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) must stop him from grooming Indian fast bowlers."

The Indian government last month ended a three-year boycott of bilateral cricket matches against Pakistan, paving the way for the arch-rivals to schedule a long-awaited Test series in Pakistan in March-April next year.

India last played a Test match in Pakistan in 1989. Akram was the Pakistan captain during a three-Test tour of India in 1999.

PCB chief executive Rameez Raja, a former national captain, said Akram was free to take up any coaching assignments.

"It's his call and we have no objection to that," Raja told AFP.

The Indian team, which departs for Australia on Friday, includes three left-arm seamers Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra and rookie Irfan Pathan.

India open their tour of Australia with two warm-up matches before the first Test at the Gabba in Brisbane from December 4.