14 February 2004	Saturday	22 Zilhaj 1424

NEW DELHI, Feb 13: Top Indian athletes and a team of blind cricketers will visit Pakistan as scheduled, officials said on Friday, even as the national cricket team's Test tour next month was on the verge of being postponed.

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) confirmed it will send a 400-strong contingent for the SAF Games. A team of blind cricketers will leave for Lahore by road next Wednesday to play five matches against their Pakistani counterparts who won the World Cup for the blind in India last December.

But there are growing doubts about India's first Test tour of Pakistan in almost 15 years going ahead as scheduled because the Indian government wants it postponed until after general elections in April-May.

The Economic Times reported in a front page story on Friday that it had been told by deputy prime minister and home minister Lal Krishna Advani that his ministry was against the tour for security reasons.

IOA secretary-general Randhir Singh said India would definitely take part in the SAF Games. "We at the IOA have not heard anything to the contrary," Singh said.

"We visited Islamabad in January to oversee the arrangements for the Games and I am confident there will be no security problems." Jagmohan Dalmiya, president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), said a final decision on the Test tour will be taken after a three-member delegation returns from Pakistan next Monday.

The BCCI delegation, which includes a security expert from the home ministry, is currently visiting various venues in Pakistan to study the security and players' arrangements for the tour.

Media reports on Friday said the government has asked the BCCI to consider fresh dates for the tour after the general elections end in May, but the prevailing hot weather then will not be conducive for cricket.

Former Test cricketers, while acknowledging that Delhi's advice on security had to be followed, said they would be disappointed if the tour was cancelled. "Politicians should stick to their own business and let cricket officials do their job," said former Test star Anshuman Gaekwad.

"The whole situation is ridiculous. The government should have realised all this before the BCCI sent a delegation to Pakistan." Former Test batsman Abbas Ali Baig added sarcastically: "It might not be a bad idea to hold the series during the monsoons because the matches won't happen and there won't be any results. So everyone will be happy." -AFP