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The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) expressed its dismay over India's decision to back out from the Asian Test Championship and demanded the game's controlling body to "show some teeth".

In a press statement, PCB chairman Lt Gen Tauqir Zia said if the ICC didn't put its foot down, its knock-out tournament and the 10-year plan would be in serious doubt. "It's about time it (ICC) acted and resolve such issues clear-headedly and authoritatively otherwise ICC Knock-out (tournament) and (ICC's) ten-year programme will be in jeopardy," Tauqir, who is also the president of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), said.

The ICC has informally awarded next year's Knock-out tournament to India with Pakistan kept as the stand-by nation. The official decision on the host country is expected to be made in the ICC executive board's meeting scheduled at Lahore between Oct 12 and 19. Indian delegation is also expected to attend the summit.

Tauqir, who had threatened to sever relations with India after New Delhi refused to honour its scheduled tour to Pakistan earlier this year, felt that cricket should not be held hostage to extreme views. "It is likely to suffer a great blow in this part of the world which has seen phenomenal growth in the last couple of decades."

The ACC president said the championship schedule was prepared after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had produced a guarantee of its government policy explicitly stating that it had no objection to India playing Pakistan in multinational tournaments. "Now the Indian government has decided to go back on its commitment, while there has been no change in the circumstances whatsoever," Tauqir said.

The PCB chairman said it was now apparent that cricket was being singled out as a game in which India doesn't want to take on Pakistan. Citing the example of Indian contingent's appearance in October's SAF Games in Islamabad, Tauqir said: "This to me is the most glaring contradiction in terms and it shows that there is more to it than meets the eye."

The ACC chief defended Jaghmohan Dalmiya's announcement of setting Aug 23 deadline to the Indian government which irked Sports Minister Uma Bharti. "In all fairness, that was not an ultimatum, as it has been made out to be. The ACC didn't want the issue to be dragged endlessly.

"Already the ACC, and consequently the host countries, have suffered a lot because of Indian government's dilly-dally," he said with reference to the $15million loss which the PCB had to bear after India declined to play three Tests and five one-dayers in Pakistan earlier this year.

He added: "It's a shame that a continental event of this magnitude doesn't have a title sponsor and television rights remain unsold. Who is going to the ultimate loser? Cricket in the sub-continent and in Asia."

© Dawn