By IANS,
New Delhi : The Indian government is unlikely to clear India’s cricket tour to Pakistan in January in view of the volatile security situation in that country.
A highly placed source in the government told IANS Friday that a decision will be taken in two weeks but indicated that the they were unwilling to take the risk of touring strife-torn Pakistan.
“Can you imagine the reaction here if there was even a scratch to someone like Sachin Tendulkar. We asked Pakistan if it is worth the risk,” the source said.
India are to play three Tests, five One-Day Internationals and a Twenty20 game. The Test matches are at Karachi, Rawalpindi and Lahore while the ODIs are to be played at Faisalabad, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Multan and Karachi. The Twenty20 match will be played in Karachi.
Earlier this month, Indian junior hockey team’s tour to Pakistan was also called off citing security fears.
Pakistan cricket has been hit hard by the security situation and that has resulted in the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) running into huge monetary losses.
Earlier in the year, Australia refused to tour Pakistan for a bilateral series on grounds of security and the Champions Trophy in September was also called off after several teams decided against touring Pakistan.