Cricket will be included in next year's South Asian Games, to be staged in Dhaka, a regional Olympic [Images] official said.

"India, Sri Lanka [Images], Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal have already agreed to participate in cricket," Kutubuddin Ahmed, secretary-general of the Bangladesh Olympic Association, told Reuters after a meeting in Kathmandu on Monday.

A Twenty20 [Images] competition at under-21 level would feature in the games for the eight-nation grouping, to be staged from January 29 to February 9 next year, he added.