13 February 2004	Friday	21 Zilhaj 1424

KARACHI, Feb 12: A senior official of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said on Thursday that the three-member delegation wanted the much-awaited Indian tour of Pakistan take place in earnest.

Prof Ratnakar Shetty, the joint secretary of the BCCI, told reporters here that India was keen to visit Pakistan once everything was sorted out between the respective governments and cricket boards before the itinerary was finalized.

"We would very much like the tour to go on as planned," Prof Shetty said after inspecting the facilities at the National Stadium, adding: "We are only here to evaluate certain aspects of the tour before we report back to the BCCI next week. It will then be the responsibility of the board to give the tour a green signal."

The delegation also included Amrit Mathur, BCCI's Director for Communication and Coordination, and Yashovardhan Azad, who is the Inspector General of Police and chief of the VIP Security Division of the Indian Home Ministry.

Prof Shetty, who was accompanied by Mathur at the short media briefing, refused to make any comment on the security situation. "Mr Mathur and myself are looking at logistics part of the trip. Mr Azad is responsible for all security arrangements, therefore, I would not like to say anything on that issue.

To a query, Prof Shetty stated that he was not aware as to why South Africa refused to play in Karachi and Peshawar last year after a security team had praised the arrangements during a fact-finding mission.

"This question is quite irrelevant because we are exactly not sure why they (South Africans) decided against playing at these places." The BCCI official stressed that he had confined himself to the cricketing aspects during the inspection visit of Pakistan.

"As far as we are concerned, we have inspected the facilities such as the dressing-rooms, playing and practice areas and the media centres in Rawalpindi, Peshawar and now here. And we will be doing the same at Multan, Faisalabad and Lahore," he explained.

The Indian delegation, which leaves for Multan on Friday morning, strolled in and around the National Stadium escorted by senior officials of the Pakistan Rangers, Police and the PCB.

Earlier, the Indian team held meetings with Javed Zia, the Director General of Rangers, and Tariq Jameel, Deputy Inspector General (Operations) of Karachi Police and other high-ranking government officials.

Karachi has been deprived of top international cricket since Bangladesh played here last September. Subsequently, both South Africa and New Zealand refused to play in the metropolis citing security fears.