Imran deplores Sena's reaction over India tour

Imran Khan said attempts by Shiv Sena to spoil a pitch were "disheartening and uncalled for".

Former cricket great Imran Khan on Tuesday deplored attempts by a group of Hindu hardliners to spoil a Test pitch in a bid to disrupt Pakistan's forthcoming tour of India.

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"Attempts to dig pitches by the extremists to disrupt Pakistan's tour of India and statements calling for cancellation of the tour are disheartening and uncalled for, fans in Pakistan and India are really hurt over such reports," he told AFP.

"Cricket can further the peace process. Indian team and spectators were received so warmly last year and people here expect the same in India," Khan said referring to India's 2004 tour of Pakistan, their first for 15 years.

Pakistan are due to pay a reply visit, their first tour to India since 1999 to play three Tests and five one-day games but the tour faces an imbroglio over Pakistan's refusal to play a Test match in Ahmedabad.

Ahmedabad is the main city in the western state of Gujarat where at least 2,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed in communal riots in 2002.

The dispute has delayed the announcement of the schedule even though only 10 days remain before Pakistan land in India around February 25.

Pakistan's refusal has sparked calls for the tour to be cancelled and some suspected activists of the Hindu fundamentalist Shiv Sena party were arrested attempting to dig up the pitch at Mohali, proposed venue of the first Test.

India's main opposition party, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), has urged the government and the Indian Board to cancel the tour if Pakistan insist on avoiding Ahmedabad.

"If Pakistan refuse to play in Ahmedabad it will be better to call off the tour," said BJP spokesman Vijay Kumar Malhotra.