Delhi: delay easier said than done, maybe a trimmed down tour

With Pakistan linking the tour by the Indian cricket team to the ongoing peace process between the two countries — PCB chief calls it &...

With Pakistan linking the tour by the Indian cricket team to the ongoing peace process between the two countries — PCB chief calls it ‘‘a major confidence building measure’’ — there’s growing realisation in Delhi to let the series go ahead, perhaps by truncating it to dispel concerns and build on Vajpayee’s peace initiative.

While there’s no official word yet on the fate of the series, the buzz here is that safety concerns would be addressed and the series shortened — the number of tests and one-dayers may be reduced and troubled venues like Peshawar and Karachi skipped — to let the Indian team make the trip. In fact, sources said the tour is likely to figure during the much-awaited official Indo-Pak talks starting Monday.

PCB chief Shaharyar Khan today told The Indian Express that if the Indian security vetting team, now in Pakistan, had any reason to worry, it would figure in Sunday’s wrap-up meeting and would be fully addressed. The Pakistan board’s refusal to defer the series till after the Lok Sabha elections and its warning that this could affect ties has had its echo in Delhi.

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And the Pakistanis are hoping that the Indians relent. In New Delhi, Pakistan High Commissioner Aziz Ahmed Khan, while maintaining that a decision on the tour rested with the two boards, said: ‘‘I hope the tour takes place.’’

If the tour was going to add to BJP poll worries, the Congress was losing no time to have a go at the government. Demanding an explanation, Congress spokesperson Jaipal Reddy said: ‘‘If the Union Home Ministry was not sure about the players’ security in Pakistan, it should have alerted the BCCI before the decision on the series was taken.’’ ‘‘Now that the Home Ministry has taken a contrary view on the issue, the NDA government owes an explanation not only to BCCI but to the entire country. This negative attitude of the government only shows how fragile is their feel good factor.’’

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