The manager of the touring squad, Surinder Khanna, politely avoided answering queries from the newsmen present at the National Stadium who wanted to know as to why the Indian cricket board had taken such a step.

Khanna observed that he was only obeying the orders from his board, which had accused its Pakistani counterpart of 'politicising sports' by declaring a rest day on Thursday (Feb 5).

It may be mentioned here that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had decided, as a safety measure against any untoward incident, to treat the scheduled third day of the opening tour match as a rest day on a national holiday which was observed as Kashmir Day. The PCB extended the match by a day after consulting the touring team officials, who in turn asked the PCB to inform its Indian counterpart about the change in plans.

However, the Indian cricket board refused to comply to the request of the PCB and instead instructed the touring team on Thursday to withdraw from rest of the match.

Khanna said that whatever had transpired over the last couple of days was very unfortunate. ``I would not like to indulge in creating unnecessary fuss over the issue. As far as we are concerned, the chapter should end here.''

He said that his team is here to play. ``We should look forward to the games ahead,'' he remarked, and added that his boys are in the best frame of mind and are keen to play.

On the outcome of the forthcoming series, Khanna noted that it is very difficult to make any prediction but expects a tough series against Pakistan, who have a tradition of producing quality fast bowlers.

Commenting on the opening match, Khanna said that he was very pleased with the batting of skipper Gagan Khoda, Wasim Jaffer and Jatin Paranjpe and the bowling of spinner Murali Kartik. However, he warned that the tourists will have to hard in every department of the game if they are win on the tour.

The Indian manager praised the hospitality extended to the touring team during its stay in the city by saying that the Indians were overwhelmed by the arrangements made by the local cricket association.

The match was officially called off at 11.15 a.m, after a message was received from the PCB headquarters in Lahore, who had tried in vain to get in touch with the Indian cricket board all morning in a last-ditch attempt to resume the match.

The touring squad had a three-hour long session in the nets under the supervision of team coach Krishnammachari Srikkanth.

The Indians are scheduled to leave for Peshawar early on Saturday for a three-day side match, which begins from Sunday (Feb 8).