LONDON, Aug 15: Foemer Pakistan cricket captain Imran Khan has said he is prepared to undergo a paternity test, as long as it is done in Pakistan, to disprove his former lover Sita White's claim that he is the father of her child.

Imran released a statement through his lawyers here yesterday in reaction to a ruling from a California court that the cricketer-turned-politician is the father of White's five-year-old daughter Tyrian.

The court gave the ruling on default as Khan refused to appear before it and failed to supply his blood sample for the paternity test.

Khan, who is married to Jemima, the daughter of late Jewish tycoon Sir James Goldsmith, and has a 10-month-old son from her, said, ``It is simply not possible for me to travel the world fighting court cases in every country. My work is in politics and with my hospital in Pakistan.''

Khan said to no end could the speculation be scotched and the matter settled. ``I will of course be prepared to submit to a blood test in Pakistan and will fully stand by the competent decision of the Pakistani courts,'' his statement said.

White, who is the daughter of millionaire Lord Hull, has claimed before the California court that she had a long affair with Khan and that Tyrian had been conceived during a bout of passion in 1991.

She claimed Khan wanted her to have an abortion once he found he was going to be the father of a girl saying ``she cannot play cricket.''

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.