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It?s political, Pak board tells India
Pak cricket board said its reservations over playing in Ahmedabad were based on political reasons.
Pakistan Cricket Board on Sunday said its reservations over playing in Ahmedabad were based on "political reasons" and it did not want to play even a one-dayer at the venue.
"Yes, we have expressed our inability and our reservations are based on political reasons," PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan said over phone from Lahore while confirming writing a letter to the Indian cricket board regarding selection of Ahmedabad as a proposed venue for a Test match during this month's series.
"Since our objections are politically based, we thought it better to completely ignore the centre instead of agreeing to play a shorter version of the game there," the 70-year-old former diplomat said.
"India had security concerns and not political concerns about Peshawar and Karachi. Therefore, it was mutually agreed that limited overs internationals could be played at these centres."
PCB has written the letter on the basis of a report given by the security assessment team that recently visited India and on the advice of Pakistan's foreign ministry, which is believed to have expressed apprehensions over the law and order situation in Gujarat.
Shaharyar said so far BCCI had not proposed any alternate venue but added that if Chennai was offered, PCB would have no objections.
The chief also said the PCB team had assessed only the security and logistics of the proposed venues and it had nothing to do with the political angle.
PCB's director (operations) Abbas Zaidi said from Islamabad that the two boards were in constant touch with each other and hoped that the venues would be finalised by Tuesday or Wednesday.
Meanwhile, sources in PCB said that while Chennai looked all set to host the second Test of the three-match series, the prospects of Mumbai hosting a limited overs international could not be ruled out.
Although the PCB has not issued any official statement against New Delhi, where the stadium is still under construction, it has made up its mind to press for its exclusion, they said adding surprisingly the PCB was keen to have a one-day at Shiv Sena dominated Mumbai.
