Tour is CBM, delay is cold water on thaw: PCB chief

8216;8216;If your question is whether Pakistan is willing to play in Sri Lanka or Dubai, then the answer is no,8217;8217; Khan said.

Asked whether he believed the Indian concerns over security, Khan pointed out that the Indian security vetting team had so far, not once, made any comments over this score. If that did come up with something during their 8216;8216;final, wrap-up meeting8217;8217; on Sunday morning, he said, the PCB was fully willing to assuage their worries.

As of now, Khan confirmed, the first test match would be held in Lahore tentatively on March 11, while the other two test matches would be held in karachi and Peshawar. A three-dayer in Multan could be upgraded to the status of a test, he said, while Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi and Faislabad would also host one-day matches.

But Khan, like the rest of Lahore8212;and perhaps, Pakistan8212;couldn8217;t hide his general irritation with Indian news reports citing political reasons as a major motive for possible postponement of the cricket tour.

Over the space of the 45-minute-long interview, he pointed out grimly that if the news turned out to be true, it would be a sad day for the gradually warming relationship.

8216;8216;The atmosphere has changed in Pakistan after the summit between President Musharraf and Prime Minister Vajpayee in January. All of the SAARC region is very happy. The US, Europe, Russia and the rest of the world has welcomed the beginning of the dialogue. Do you now want to now pour cold water on this?8217;8217; Khan asked.

He added: 8216;8216;On the political level, it will damage the process that has started between Musharraf and Vajpayee.8217;8217;

Khan admitted that he did not know whether Musharraf was going to speak to vajpayee or not on this score, but pointed out that the tour would be 8216;8216;a major confidence-building measure8217;8217; between the two sides. 8216;8216;The people are waiting eagerly to see Indians play here after such a long gap of 16 years,8217;8217; he said.

8216;8216;My sense is that the Pakistani government will interact with the Indian government on what should be done,8217;8217; he said. In fact, the Foreign Secretary-level talks between the two sides that were going to start in Islamabad next week was 8216;8216;surely the right forum to discuss possible adverse repercussions and weigh pros and cons,8217;8217; he added.

He pointed out that Indian news reports, suggesting a political postponement of the cricket tour would not be acceptable to Pakistan, because of its full schedule over 2004. 8216;8216;After the elections in April-May, we get into very hot weather. We will not play in hot weather. It8217;s not right,8217;8217; he said.

Moreover, India, Pakistan and Australia would be playing with each other in Amsterdam in August. By early September, they would meet at the Champions trophy in England, after which Pakistan would be playing Zimbabwe back home. Ramzan follows in November-December 8216;8216;we won8217;t play during Ramzan8217;8217; and after that the Pakistanis were scheduled to travel to Australia in December.

8216;8216;Where is the slot to postpone the series?8217;8217; Khan asked, 8216;8216;If you want to postpone it till next year, then that8217;s another ball game,8217;8217; he added.

Khan admitted that the PCB stood to lose about 20 million if India called off the tour, not only because of the 10-odd million from sponsorships it had signed only a couple of days ago, but also because it had spent an equal amount on upgrading grounds, promising security as well as hotel accommodation for the visiting cricketers as well as tourists.