Let's play cricket

In the Times of India, sports historian Boria Majumdar says that England's return to India for two Tests poses a series of critical questions for cricket administrators and fans.

Is the BCCI justified in hastening the resumption of cricket ties on home soil? Are the English coming back to India because money continues to talk and talk strong? Is the resumption an aberration and will subcontinental cricket never be the same again following the Mumbai horror? And are we confronted with the possibility of a racial divide in world cricket with India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka having lost appeal for players from the rest of the world?

England's hesitant cricketers have been left embarrassed by a lack of perspective, says James Lawton in the Independent.

Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison are pacing the opulent grounds of their Abu Dhabi hotel wondering, like Hamlet, whether to be or not to be. To be, that is, at least as heroic as any other traveller to any of those large swathes of the world map that offer something less than guaranteed safety.

In his column for the Hindu, Peter Roebuck says England's decision to return to India is a gesture worthy of appreciation. The heroes of those ghastly hours in Mumbai need to be backed up, writes Roebuck.

In Abu Dhabi, the Times' Patrick Kidd watched England practice at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, and says that sunburn is the only threat for the players.

In the Hindustan Times, Kadambari Murali Wade comments on England's travel habits and Pakistani hospitality. The question is whether England will be able to look beyond their Playstations once they arrive in India.