India under-19 tour to Pakistan likely to be called off

The chances of cricketing ties resuming between India and Pakistan has suffered another setback, with reports that the Indian government is likely to refuse permission for an under-19 team to tour Pakistan. Rediff.com quoted a senior sports ministry official as saying: "We don't see the prevailing conditions as ideal. We have to adopt a wait-and-see approach."

The report says that the Indian government has no objection to a team from the National Cricket Academy touring Sri Lanka to play in a triangular tournament - where the third team will be Pakistan - but is opposed to the under-19 team touring Pakistan for a similar tournament.

"The matter is pending with the home and foreign affairs ministries," Vikram Verma, the union sports minister, told Trans Cricket News in an exclusive chat. "After all, it is much more than just a sporting matter. There are serious issues such as security. Once we hear from the two ministries, we will let the BCCI know." Sources within the government, however, believe that the tour will almost certainly be called off.

If the tour does get cancelled, it will be a personal setback for Jagmohan Dalmiya, the BCCI president. Dalmiya and Tauqir Zia, the Pakistan board president, had met in Dubai and London earlier this year in an attempt to revive India-Pakistan ties. Dalmiya had also met Verma and Vijay Goel, the union minister of state for sports, in New Delhi last week to get the government's go-ahead.

"We were so confident," said a BCCI official. "The board chief was personally assured by the prime minister and foreign minister Jaswant Singh that a letter to the effect that the Indian senior team could tour Pakistan next February would be issued soon."

If the Indian team is refused permission, it will jeopardise the schedule of junior cricket tours between the three Asian countries which was decided by the Asian Cricket Council last month. According to the report, that initiative had listed three tournaments - a triangular series between the Indian, Pakistan and Sri Lankan cricket academy teams in Sri Lanka in August; an Under-19 triangular tournament in Pakistan in August-September; and the Under-17 Asia Cup in India in November.

Samiul Hasan, the media manager of the Pakistan board, indicated that the Indian government's decision could affect the under-17 Asia Cup. "It is difficult to say with certainty but if India does not tour Pakistan for the under-19 triangular, the PCB would not be too keen for the Under-17 Asia Cup."