The BCCI is making assurances that Australia will indeed tour India despite the blasts that took place in New Delhi on Saturday. However, Australia have modified their stance and are wary of the repercussions of their decision.
The BCCI is in a bid to squash rumours that Australia are revisiting plans to visit India at the end of the month when Australia will first play a Test series. The tour has had its controversies already in that Andrew Symonds’ absence from team meeting ahead of the Bangladesh series has seen him being dropped for the upcoming tour to India. Close to home, speculation about the fate of the top five of the Indian Test squad has been raging and fuelled by the fact that Sourav Ganguly was dropped from the Irani Trophy tie, lending credence that this was the beginning of the end of what was a great era of Test crickets in an era.
Players like Virender Sehwag were making no bones of the fact that without Symonds, India were a happier lot not because of the racial spars that drained the spirit of the game down under but rather because of the integral figure that Symonds has become in the Australian side, this despite making a late burst on the international scene. But few would have imagined that the situation would get as serious as it has with the entire tour in jeopardy.
Cricket Australia quickly took the stance that their position to tour India will stand unless otherwise advised by their security manager, the now famous Reg Dickason who advised Australia against going ahead with the Pakistan tour for the Champions Trophy. While Australia appear keen not to antagonize the BCCI, the hub of activity that has generated money not only for themselves for the participating boards as well especially with the advent of Twenty20 in India in the form of the IPL and the Champions Twenty20 League, player safety remains of paramount concern for them.
There are growing concerns within Cricket Australia. Reports state that FICA President Tim May was quite astonished that given the level of security arrangements made in Pakistan that teams still refused to make the trip. However, Sehwag has also urged Australia to make the trip to India even going as far as saying that conditions in India were different from those in Pakistan. But it appears now that unless Dickason suggests otherwise, Australia want to tour India but are wary of the labels their decision will attract.
Australia refused to tour Pakistan in March earlier this year, choosing to postpone the tour to an indefinite time in the future. Pakistan therefore played their last Test in India last year and will now be playing the next only next year when India are scheduled to tour Pakistan, unless West Indies accept a proposal from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to tour. Pakistan have been severely hit, especially when it comes to Tests and the players have been lingering without stimulating without work. Australia were also in the forefront expressing concerns before the Champions Trophy, lending their security reports to New Zealand and England while South Africa were framing their own concerns.
With the decision now to go ahead with the tour as proposed, Australia are in dubious contention of showing discriminating policy regarding touring nations, a matter that is apparently bothering them more than they would like to admit. Uneasy times and uneasy answers. Is there a way of pleasing all?
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Already tonnes of controversies have been come into the picture before the test series. Really uneasy time for Aussie Cricket mates.
By Jessy
Can we have something different to read please. The article before this was on the same lines. Every body who follows cricket knows that the Aussies are not really certain about the touring India, however, the Indians are trying their best to fool no one but their own selves.
