India and Pakistan battle to save cricket tour

Even though the Indian government has assured the Pakistani team full security during the two-Test tour, Indian cricket board officials remained wary.

``Nothing is certain till the Pakistanis actually land here on January 21,'' an Indian cricket board source told AFP on Monday.

Pakistan have cancelled three tours at the last minute in the past eight years and Indian officials were seeking a tour-saving formula ahead of a meeting with a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) special envoy.

Brigadier Rafi Saeed, who is to arrive on Monday night, will meet Indian government and cricket board officials and the Pakistani High Commissioner during his six-day stay.

``Let's see what comes out of the meeting, but we are no sitting idle,'' the source said, hinting a face-saving compromise was being worked out.

``The Indian government and the board are very keen to host the Pakistanis,'' he said. ``We will do anything to ensure they come.''

Indications are that even if Pakistan refuse to play the two Tests between January 28 and February 8, they will still go to India for the opening match of the Asian Test championships against the hosts in Calcutta from February 16-20.

Calcutta, the state capital of Marxist-ruled West Bengal, is considered a safe bet for the Pakistanis where firebrand Hindu militant leader Bal Thackeray's Shiv Sena party has negligible presence.

The West Bengal government, which in the past hosted Pakistani cultural artistes to spite the Shiv Sena, has not only pledged to host the opener but any other match involving Pakistan.

Indian officials were also confident Pakistan will take part in the three nation series against India and World Cup champions Sri Lanka at grounds across India from March 19 to April 3.

The scrapping of the first leg of the tour suits the overworked Indian team, currently touring New Zealand, and their rivals struggling to find form after recent home defeats to Zimbabwe and Australia.

``It's a very fluid situation,'' the source said. ``As of now the Test tour is on, but a lot could happen in the next week.''

Security concerns were raised when Thackeray's group dug up the Test pitch in New Delhi last Wednesday

PCB chairman Khalid Mahmood said Pakistan, which last played a Test in India in March 1987, will not take a final decision on the tour until the last minute.

Pakistan Information Minister Mushahid Hussain said on Saturday the team would only come if New Delhi gave firm safety guarantees.

Indian Home Minister Lal Krishna Advani on Sunday pledged to protect Pakistani diplomats and cricketers from the Shiv Sena.

``The diplomats and the players are safe,'' Advani said, adding that differences between New Delhi and Islamabad should not extend to sports and culture.

``I hope they will come,'' he said. ``I want them to come. The government has taken appropriate action against vandalism. We will try to ensure full and fool-proof security to the players.''

In 1991, Shiv Sena men vandalised the pitch at Bombay's Wankhede stadium two days before Pakistan were to start a limited-over series in India.

Pakistan cancelled that tour, and two more in 1993 and 1994, because of security fears. They played in India during the 1996 World Cup and the Independence Cup the following year without problems.

The Shiv Sena says India should not have sporting links with Pakistan as long as Islamabad supports Moslem separatists in Kashmir and insurgent groups elsewhere in the country.