India’s government has refused permission to send a cricket team for a full tour of Pakistan early next year following the deadly Mumbai attacks, Indian television reported yesterday.
The tour was canceled amid a government probe into Pakistani links to the assaults on the country’s financial capital by heavily armed militants that left nearly 200 people dead.
The NDTV and CNN-IBN news channels, quoting unnamed government sources, said the matches were also unlikely to be played at neutral venues.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) declined to comment on the reports, saying its request for a security clearance for the tour was pending with the government.
India were scheduled to play three Tests, five one-day internationals and a Twenty20 match during the five-week tour from Jan. 13 to Feb. 19.
It was to be the fifth bilateral series between the two countries since 2004, when cricket ties resumed after a 15-year gap because of political tensions between the warring neighbors.
The tour was first put in doubt earlier this month when the Indian government denied permission to the national junior hockey team to visit Pakistan.
Australia canceled a Test tour of Pakistan in March and the International Cricket Council put off the high-profile Champions Trophy there in September because of security concerns.
The BCCI is also waiting for England to confirm next week’s two-Test tour of India after the last two one-day internationals were canceled and the tourists returned home following the Mumbai attacks.
■ AUSTRALIA VS N ZEALAND
STAFF WRITER
Score at the close of play on the third day of the second Test in Adelaide, Australia:
• New Zealand 270 all out & 35-0
• Australia 535 all out
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