NEW DELHI, February 5: India today took the unusual step of cancelling the last day's play of the India `A' cricket team against Pakistan, in retaliation to the Pakistan cricket team's decision to postpone the game in order to express ``solidarity with the people of Kashmir'' on Tuesday.``What about solidarity with the victims of terrorism in Kashmir,'' sources in the Ministry of External Affairs asked, explaining the government's decision to cancel the last day's play.The official spokesman of the Ministry, however, said India took the decision not to cancel the entire cricket tour, because it had always maintained that people-to-people contacts should be maintained.``However we took the calibrated decision to cancel the last day's play of the game that was going on to show our displeasure over the mixing of sport with politics,'' the sources said.``This is a blatant attempt at injecting politics into sports,'' the spokesman said while commenting on this ``most regrettable'' action of thePakistani authorities.In reply to another question, he said if Pakistan precipitated the matter and abandoned the series now, the onus would be on them. ``BCCI has instructed the India `A' team not to participate any further in this match by consenting to the extension of play to tomorrow as proposed by the Pakistani officials,'' Board president Raj Singh Dungarpur said in Mumbai.Raj Singh Dungarpur said he had instructed team manager Surinder Khanna to convey to the Pakistan Cricket Board that its decision to put off the final day's play ``is not correct and amounts to bringing politics into sports.''The India A team is scheduled to play Tests at Rawalpindi (Feb 13-16), Peshawar (Feb 24-27) and Sialkot (March 7-10) before taking on the neighbours in three one-day games at Lahore (March 13 and 15) and Karachi (March 17).Over, calls Thackeray as Pak stops play``We will not allow the Pakistan cricket team to visit India ever,'' thundered Bal Thackeray reacting to Pakistan's decision tosuspend play in the India A versus Karachi Cricket Association (KCA) match.``Since they have expressed solidarity with the pro-Pakistan people in Kashmir, we will see how they play on our land,'' he told The Indian Express."Beyond expressing regrets and deploring the attitude, the Centre has not retaliated strongly. I think the tour should be cancelled immediately,'' he added.Only recently Thackeray had told Pakistan High Commissioner Ashraf Jehangir Qazi that he was prepared to welcome the Pakistan cricket team to India provided they improved their behaviour.Coupled with his statement a few days earlier that a national monument should be built at Ayodhya, it was seen as a deliberate watering down of his rabid anti-Muslim stance in the run-up to the election. But the Karachi incident might put the clock back a few years when Thackeray's sainiks dug up the Wankhede pitch in 1990 prior to a Pakistan tour. The tour was called off and Pakistan has not played in Mumbai since then.
