indian team may not tour pakistan

[ANANT GUPTA]

India's Pakistan tour in doubt
Source - http://www.cricinfo.com.
India's scheduled tour of Pakistan in January stands closer than ever to being cancelled after reports suggested the government wanted to take a tougher line against Pakistan in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai. A neutral venue may also be ruled out as an alternative.

The BCCI is yet to receive instructions from the Indian government. "In this atmosphere it looks [the tour] very difficult," a top board official told Cricinfo. The Indian board had written to the government seeking security clearance for the tour but has not received a reply yet.

Tensions between the two countries increased after allegations that the terrorists had Pakistani links. But Pakistan denied the accusations.

PTI quoted sources saying the chances of an Indian team going to Pakistan "is minimal". "It is for the government to inform the BCCI about the final decision but the situation is such that it appears that cricket between the two countries is unlikely," said the source.

Just hours before Wednesday's terrorist attacks, the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan had said they were hopeful the series goes ahead without further problems.

Ijaz Butt, the Pakistan board chairman, warned that teams refusing to tour countries because of security concerns was a "dangerous" scenario that could lead to a split in the game.

India's tour, from January 4 to February 19, includes three Tests, five ODIs and a Twenty20 international. India visited Pakistan in June-July for the Asia Cup this year, but concerns increased after the Champions Trophy, due to be held in September, was postponed following security concerns by some participating nations.

Proposed iterny of india"s tour of pakistan
January 2009
Tue 6 - Thu 8 TBC v Indians
Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad, Sind

Tue 13 - Sat 17
10:00 local, 05:00 GMT 1st Test - Pakistan v India
National Stadium, Karachi

Wed 21 - Sun 25
05:00 GMT 2nd Test - Pakistan v India
Venue TBC

Thu 29 - Mon 2
10:00 local, 05:00 GMT 3rd Test - Pakistan v India
Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore

February 2009
Fri 6 1st ODI - Pakistan v India
Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad

Sun 8 2nd ODI - Pakistan v India
Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore

Wed 11 3rd ODI - Pakistan v India
Venue TBC

Sat 14 4th ODI - Pakistan v India
Multan Cricket Stadium

Tue 17 5th ODI - Pakistan v India
National Stadium, Karachi

Thu 19 Only Twenty20 International - Pakistan v India
National Stadium, Karachi

[mj786]

its good.. as Ind Pak matches were getting bored these days..

[ANANT GUPTA]

India's tour of Pakistan is 'impossible' - Gavaskar
Source - http://www.cricinfo.com.
Sunil Gavaskar, the former Indian captain, has said it will be "impossible" for India to tour Pakistan early next year given the deterioration in political relations between the two countries following the Mumbai terror attacks.

"It will be difficult in any case for the Indian players to play against Pakistan at the moment," Gavaskar told CNN-IBN. "Diplomatically there has been a falling-out between the two nations and I don't see why cricket won't follow suit and so at the moment it is impossible to go ahead with the tour."

India are scheduled to tour Pakistan from January 6 to February 19 for five one-dayers and three Tests, subject to government clearance. Reports have suggested that the Indian government could take a tough stand, after evidence linked some of the terrorists with Pakistan, which leaves the tour in doubt.

England's visit to India had also been in doubt after players expressed concerns about their safety in the wake of the Mumbai violence. With that tour about to get underway under tight security, just fifteen days after the strikes, Gavaskar felt the Tests would lack intensity. "The guys will be concentrating and focusing once they take the field for sure because they are trained in that way," he said. "But it won't be easy and I feel the free spirit or the intensity with which they played in the one-dayers won't be there this time."

[ANANT GUPTA]

India's sports minister not in favour of Pakistan tour
Source - http://www.cricinfo.com.
India's sports minister, MS Gill, has said India should not tour Pakistan in the wake of the terror attacks in Mumbai. While voices on both sides of the border have lobbied for and against the tour, Gill's statement is the first direct statement on the issue by a member of the Indian government.

"Is it possible for one team to arrive in Mumbai and indulge in mass murder, and have another team go and play cricket in the winter afternoon sun at Lahore, immediately after?" Gill told PTI. Sporting contact, he said, was meant to enhance friendship, and the cricket series was not a commercial drama to go ahead under the surveillance of thousands of security personnel.

The final decision, as he pointed out, rests with the government.

Gill's statement came on a day when PCB chairman Ijaz Butt arrived in Chennai for a meeting with Asian Cricket Council (ACC) officials and ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat, with the hope of salvaging the series. However, Butt said he was here for a different meeting and wasn't "prepared to comment on the government of India's decision".

Gill's Pakistan counterpart, Aftab Jilani, however, remains optimistic and said there "was a ray of hope" that the tour would go ahead. "Cricket has a huge popularity in both countries and it will help ease out the tension if the Indian cricket team tours Pakistan next month," Jilani told AP.

He, however, steered clear of Gill's statement and was hopeful that Butt's meeting with the BCCI and ICC officials would be constructive. "I can't comment on what Mr. Gill has said, it's his opinion," he said. "But I am very hopeful that something positive will come out of Ijaz Butt's meeting with officials of Indian cricket board.

"The government of Pakistan does not want tension with India and if we play cricket with each other it will be a step in the right direction. If India is not satisfied with the security situation [in Pakistan] there's a possibility of playing the series at a neutral venue. In my opinion sports should move on and we should play at whatever place it's possible," he said.

Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni refused to comment on the issue and said the team's focus was firmly on the two-Test series at home against England. "I don't want say anything about it right now," he said. "It is up to the government and the word has been sent across to the board. We still have time to decide whether to go or not. We are pre-occupied with the England series right now."

Sunil Gavaskar, the former Indian captain, had earlier echoed Gill's sentiment, saying it will be "impossible" for India to tour Pakistan given the deterioration in political relations between the two countries following the Mumbai terror attacks.

India are scheduled to tour Pakistan from January 6 to February 19 for three Tests, five ODIs and a Twenty20 international. However, doubts over the tour emerged after evidence linked some of the terrorists in the Mumbai attack to Pakistan.

[abbu8881]

In current situation its better not to tour pakistan