September 17, 2008	Wednesday	Ramazan 16, 1429

SYDNEY, Sept 16: Australia decided on Tuesday to go ahead with their upcoming tour of India despite security concerns following a series of deadly bomb attacks in New Delhi, drawing scathing criticism from Pakistan.

“Our advice is there are some concerns and to exercise caution, but currently they do not compromise the tour,” Cricket Australia (CA) said on its website.

Ricky Ponting’s 15-man squad is due to leave this weekend with the first of four Tests starting in Bangalore on Oct 9. Delhi will host one Test match from Oct 29.

Confirmation of the tour follows five coordinated bomb blasts which ripped through crowded markets across the Indian capital on Saturday evening, killing more than 20 people and wounding at least 90 others.

CA commissioned an urgent security review following the bombings and spokesman Peter Young said it had concluded that travel to India remained appropriate.

Young said tight security arrangements were already in place for the Australia ‘A’ team currently in India, and they would be extended to the senior squad when they arrived.

“In consultation with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), we have upgraded security in and around the dressing rooms and they will have an escort to the ground,” he stated.

“Australia ‘A’ players have also been told not to leave the hotel without good reason. It’s just a matter of prudence.”

The team will initially travel to Jaipur, the state capital of western Rajasthan where 65 people were killed in similar blasts in May, for acclimatisation and a practice match.

A second practice match in Hyderabad is scheduled before the first Test in Bangalore, the southern city rocked by eight bombs in July that killed a woman and injured seven.

Australia was one of the nations that declined to tour Pakistan this month for the International Cricket Council’s Champions Trophy on security grounds, which led to the tournament being put off by a year.

Australia also refused to undertake a Test tour of Pakistan in March-April for similar security fears.

On Monday, Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) Chief Operating Officer Shafqat Naghmi said Australia’s decision to tour India smacked of double standards.

Meanwhile, upset over Australia’s “double standards”, the PCB is considering legal action against CA if it goes ahead with the India tour in spite of a series of bomb blasts in Delhi, though it pulled out of a tour to Pakistan earlier.

The PCB top brass will weigh its options and if advised by the board’s legal experts, may knock at the doors of Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to seek compensation, sources were quoted as saying in the report.

A PCB official confirmed that the board reserves the right to take legal action against teams like Australia, who have openly displayed “double standards” when it comes to tours.

PCB officials said that given Australia’s track record, it is unlikely that they will displease the Indians by scrapping the tour. “There is simply too much money involved when it comes to India to take any such decision,” they said.

“The top officials in the PCB are sure that Australia will tour India in spite of all the bombings.”—Agencies