BCCI calls off Indian cricket team's tour to Pak

The current Indo-Pak chill on Thursday spread to cricket when the Government called off India's cricket tour of Pakistan scheduled next month, formally sealing the fate of the series in the wake of terror attacks in Mumbai. Questions were raised about the possibility of the tour taking place ever since terrorists from Pakistan attacked Mumbai last month and the Government today conveyed to the BCCI its reasons for cancelling the tour, citing "recent developments as well as the overall circumstances prevailing at present". "The final decision has been taken. We have got the letter from the Sports Ministry and the Ministry of External Affairs not to proceed with the tour", senior BCCI official Rajeev Shukla told the news agency. "The government has declined permission to go ahead with the tour taking into account the recent developments in Mumbai as well as the overall circumstances prevailing at present", Shukla said. He said the External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and the Sports Minister M S Gill had also personally called up Monohar to convey the decision. India were scheduled to play three Tests, five one-dayers and a Twenty20 match during their tour of Pakistan from 6th January to February 28 but the tour had been thrown into jeopardy in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attacks. The BCCI had all along maintained that it was upto the government to decide on the fate of the tour. The BCCI also ruled out playing Pakistan in a neutral venue. "We'd written to the government about the tour and we've just got the letter from the government that in the present circumstances the tour is not possible", Shetty said. Asked if it was because of the fact that senior players were not ready to play in Pakistan, Shetty said "I am not ready to comment on that. It was upto the government to decide and it was not for the BCCI to decide". Shetty did not feel it would create an uncomfortable atmosphere for the BCCI and PCB. "No, I don't think so. PCB is aware of whatever is happening at the moment." He said there was no discussion on the two teams playing the series at a neutral venue. "We've not discussed anything on this," he said and added there would be "no tour to replace the Pakistan series". The Sports Minister gave the first indication of the government view when he sent out a strong message by bluntly suggesting that the team's tour of Pakistan should not go ahead. The Minister had said it was not the right time to play cricket with Pakistan when "people from their soil were indulging in mass murder in India". "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," he had said. The cancellation of the tour will hit Pakistan hard with the cash-starved PCB having already suffered with many teams calling off tours in the recent past. Hit hard by teams after teams refusing to tour the country because of the volatile security situation there, Pakistan has not hosted a major international tournament since the Asia Cup in June this year. The high-profile Champions Trophy, which was originally scheduled to be held in Pakistan in September this year, had to be deferred with most teams refusing to tour the country. The Indian junior hockey team's tour was also cancelled last month. Desperate to salvage the series, PCB Chairman Ejaz Butt had decided to tour India to convince the BCCI top brass and also offered to shift the series to a neutral venue, possibly Abu Dhabi or England, but after the Mumbai attacks, even that possibility had become non-existent. <<<< back