The Hindu : `India cannot call off tour unilaterally'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Feb 29, 2004

Sport

Sport - Cricket

`India cannot call off tour unilaterally'

KARACHI, FEB. 28. Dispelling fear that the Indian cricket team's tour of Pakistan could be cancelled mid-way due to a single bottle or stone throwing incident, Pakistan Cricket Board chairman, Shaharyar Khan, on Friday said that the visitors cannot call off the trip ``unilaterally''.

``The BCCI or the Indian players can't call off the tour unilaterally and according to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed, both the boards will take into account the seriousness of the incident,'' said Mr. Khan during the launch of tickets at the southern city of Karachi.

The PCB chief said adequate security arrangements have been made to ensure smooth conduct of the series.

Mr. Khan urged the Pakistani fans to follow the example of the Chennai crowd, which gave the Pakistan team a standing ovation when it won a Test on its last tour to India in 1998-99.

Tickets made fraud-proof:

Tickets for the series have been printed with special bar codes to check fraud, counterfeiting and duplication, according to Mr. Khan. ``Special security bars have been printed on the tickets, which would be recognised by the access bar at the stadium entrances,'' he said.

"The PCB stands to gain about Rs. 8 crores from just the sale of tickets besides the $21 million we have earned through sale of television, sponsorship and merchandising rights,'' Mr. Khan added.

Invitation for Indian greats:

The PCB has asked the Indian board to nominate one great Indian player from every era, who would be invited to Pakistan for the series as PCB's guest. ``We are also inviting our own greats and we want some of the great Indian players also to be present for the series. To avoid any controversy, we will ask the Indian board to send us a list of players, but we have people like Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar in mind,'' PCB Chief Executive Rameez Raja was quoted as saying by The News on Saturday.

Players barred from shooting commercial:

Meanwhile, the PCB has denied permission to four top Pakistan cricketers, including skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq, to travel to India and shoot a commercial. PCB sources disclosed that the four players — Inzamam, vice-captain, Yousuf Youhana, Shoaib Akhtar and Moin Khan — were stopped from shooting the advertisement because it would have resulted in a conflict of interest between the sponsors of the Pakistan team and the company in India.

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