New Delhi, December 18
It’s official now. India’s cricket tour of Pakistan will not take place. The government has called off the Indian team’s tour of Pakistan when it denied permission to the team to travel to Pakistan as a direct fallout of the terrorist attacks on Mumbai.
The government’s stand was more or less clear when Union minister of state for youth affairs and sports M.S. Gill categorically stated the other day that India should not undertake the cricket tour to Pakistan as the time and conditions were not conducive for a friendly series after the terrorist mayhem in Mumbai.
Gill and external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee called up Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Shashank Manohar to convey the Government’s decision to call off the cricket tour. The government also informed its decision to Shashank Manohar through a letter, citing developments as well as the overall circumstances prevailing at present, as the reasons for calling off the tour. The BCCI had waited for the government to take a final call on the tour following the terrorist strikes in Mumbai though some of the senior players were also reluctant to tour Pakistan under
the prevailing circumstances.
BCCI vice-president Rajiv Shukla said a final decision had been taken to cancel the tour as “We have got the letter from the Sports Ministry and the Ministry of External Affairs not to proceed with the tour”. For the Indian players, the cancellation of the tour would be a God-send opportunity to have some much needed rest to recuperate their energey after playing virtually non-stop cricket.
India were scheduled to play three Tests, five ODIs and a Twenty20 match during their tour of Pakistan from 4 January to 28 February but the tour became a shut case after terrorists played havoc in Mumbai resulting in the death of close to 200 people.
Shukla said the BCCI will now inform the the Pakistan Cricket Board about the Government of India’s decision. Pakistan were also to host the Champions Trophy in September but following the volatile situation there, other countries refused to play in Pakistan, following which Delhi was given the option of hosting the event.
But the violent attacks in Mumbai put paid to all the plans to have cricket ties with Pakistan, which will now have a cascading effect on the second edition of the IPL and the 2011 World Cup, slated to be hosted by the Asian continent, with India and Pakistan being the main hosts. There were talks of holding the India-Pak series in a “neutral venue” like Dubai, but the suggestion found no favour from India, nor from the International Cricket Council (ICC). Even Pakistan was not very willing to compromise its cricket sovereignty by shifting the cricket tour to a neutral venue, though for the sake of cricket, it was willing to play ball in Dubai.
Pakistan has not hosted a major cricket series after the Asia Cup. India even denied permission to a junior hockey team from travelling across due to security concerns and the sporting ties between the two countries look like going for a big toss.
