MELBOURNE, 28 December 2003 — The Indian cricket team has decided it will not tour Pakistan in February 2004 in view of security threats in the neighboring nation.
The players, who had been discussing the issue for the last two days, took their final decision in the dressing room yesterday at the end of the opening day’s play in the third Test against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The players are said to be unanimous in their opinion.
A letter that records the players’ concerns and their resolve not to go is likely to be faxed to president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India Jagmohan Dalmiya today.
The move has been triggered by recent events, most notably the two attempts to assassinate Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf. While the first attempt on his life was made on Dec. 14, the second one took place on Thursday when two suicide car bombers attacked Musharraf’s convoy, killing at least 15 people.
The team feels that if the president of Pakistan — who is shifting residence because he feels insecure — could be targeted so easily, Indians as high-profile as the national cricket team could well be on the terrorists’ hit list too.
The Indian players have been talking to their family members, most of whom are opposed to a tour which could be a threat to life and limb.
The Indian board is likely to be troubled by the decision, as it has been pressing the central government for resumption of cricketing ties with Pakistan. It has been influenced by the International Cricket Council’s threats of banning India if it chose to boycott Pakistan on unreasonable grounds.
However, it is unlikely the ICC will take the Indians’ concerns lightly, given the current situation in Pakistan.
The decision to tour Pakistan in February 2004 followed the resumption of cricketing ties a few months ago after Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s peace initiative.
The New Zealand cricket team, currently playing Pakistan, last year abandoned their tour after a car bomb went off outside their hotel in Karachi. A dozen French submarine engineers were killed in that attack.
The Indian players have previously felt the danger of playing Pakistan even at home. The family members of many players expressed security fears before Pakistan undertook their tour of India in 1999-2000.
India have not hosted Pakistan since. The team played a two-Test series (Chennai and New Delhi) and an Asian Test Championship game in Kolkata apart from a tri-series one-day competition in 1999.
India last visited Pakistan in 1997 for a three-match one-day series. The forthcoming tour is India’s first full tour since 1989-90. (Mid-Day)
