By IANS,
Karachi : Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) chief Ijaz Butt Sunday refused to react to reports that India has decided to cancel its tour of Pakistan scheduled for January-February next year.
Indian media reports Sunday suggested that the government has refused to clear its cricket team’s visit to Pakistan in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai that left 183 dead.
Butt said the PCB is yet to receive information from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) over the tour.
“Today is Sunday and a holiday, and we haven’t received any formal information from the Indian cricket board (over the tour),” said Butt.
“We will only be able to give our reaction on the issue once we receive any concrete information from India,” he added.
As per International Cricket Council’s (ICC) future tour programme, India is to tour Pakistan from Jan 5 for three Tests, five one-dayers and a Twenty20 International.
But the tour has been under the cloud for the last few weeks because of security apprehensions. Last week, Butt hoped that India will tour Pakistan though he conceded that the matter was now in the hands of the two governments following the Mumbai carnage that strained the relations between the two neighbours.
Butt had once again floated the idea of moving the series to offshore venues in case India refused to visit Pakistan. It remains unclear whether the two boards would discuss this option in the near future.
Almost 18 Pakistani cricketers who were featuring in the Indian Cricket League’s World Series returned home Saturday night.
Two Pakistan team members – Sohail Tanvir and Kamran Akmal – also flew back from India after the Champions League Twenty20 event, which was to be played Dec 3-10, was postponed because of Mumbai terror attacks.