STANDARD
Age: 124
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ANOTHER BAD NEWS.HOW BOTH COUNTRIES TENTION MAY BE REDUCED...???????
New Delhi, Feb. 12. (PTI, UNI): The Indian cricket team's tour of Pakistan is likely to be postponed till after the Lok Sabha elections in May following Home Ministry's advice to the Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) to defer the "sensitive" series.
Though the BCCI and the Sports Ministry are keen that the tour be held as scheduled between March and April, highly placed sources said the Home Ministry has conveyed to BCCI that it has no objection to the cricket tour being held after the Lok Sabha elections.
It has been suggested to the Board that the schedule for the series be changed accordingly.
BCCI has been told that the tour could take place any time after the election process was over in May, the sources said.
Explaining the rationale behind the suggestion to the Board, the sources said the tour was "sensitive" as even a wrong decision by an umpire could trigger an untoward incident that could lead to further tension in the country.
However, there is also the view that the suggestion to postpone the tour stems from the fact that the NDA government does not want its "Feel Good" slogan to suffer a setback in the event of any untoward incident involving the Indian team during the tour.
The government is also under tremendous pressure from various political parties which do not want this sensitive cricket series between the two arch rivals take place when the country is in election mode.
The Indian team is slated to play three Tests, five one dayers and a three-day match during their 46-day tour.
The schedule for the tour had been worked out earlier at a time when the government had not taken a decision to go for dissolution of Parliament and early Lok Sabha polls.
The government would like the BCCI to take a decision keeping in view these issues.
Tour still on
But, said the sources, there was no question of the tour being called off as both the countries have agreed in principle for it.
However, a final decision will be taken only after the return of the three-member BCCI team which is now in Pakistan to assess the security arrangements for the tour.
The team comprises BCCI Joint Secretary Ratnakar Shetty, Communication and Media director Amrit Mathur and Yashovardhan Azad, Inspector General of Police in the Home Ministry, is expected to submit its report after its return here early next week.
jason statham
Age: 124
8016 days old here
Total Posts: 2999
Points: 0
Location:
Pakistan, Pakistan
The Indian government, severely criticised by the opposition for supposedly linking the cricket tour of Pakistan to the forthcoming elections,has given a tentative go-ahead for the series. The initiative was taken by Atal Behari Vajpayee, India's Prime Minister, and Yashwant Sinha, the External Affairs minister, said as much in New Delhi this morning, leaving the BCCI with the onerous task of convincing several reluctant players to tour.
Sinha announced that the tour would proceed as scheduled after a meeting at the Prime Minister's residence. According to news reports, Vajpayee was especially keen that uncertainty over the tour shouldn't derail the peace process. The foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan are meeting on Monday, and cricket will certainly figure prominently on the agenda.
RUBBISH.
