<b>Tendulkar, Dhoni say no to series in Pakistan</b>
LAHORE - The Indian team tour of Pakistan this coming January is growing more and more uncertain with reports suggesting that some of the senior members of the Indian team are not willing to take up the tour.
According to the an Indian news agency, top Indian players including captain MS Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar have said that they are unwilling to tour Pakistan.
When contacted a PCB official said that its too early to say. "The PCB chairman will be meeting the Indian officials and then there would be final decision. It is not confirmed as yet about the Indian players concern because none of the players has said and the reports have quoted sources," the PCB official added.
<b>The Indian news agency further reported to have learnt that India's senior players are unwilling to go in January for their scheduled three-Test and five-ODI series.</b>
Dhoni, Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag and Harbhajan Singh have all expressed their unwillingness to go to Pakistan.
The players believe that in spite of assurances from the PCB, the security threat in touring Pakistan is simply too great at the moment.
PCB chief Ijaz Butt is scheduled to tour India early next month to try and convince the BCCI but that plea is now likely to fall on deaf ears.
The agency also report earlier that the Ministry of External Affairs is also unlikely to clear the tour.
Pakistan's foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi is in Delhi with the message that Pakistan wants more cricketing and diplomatic ties with India.
Virtually snubbing Pakistan's interior secretary, Qureshi said Pakistan wanted more people to people contacts with India and welcomed Dhoni's boys and other Indians to Pakistan.
Interior secretary Kamal Shah had said on Tuesday that diplomatic ties with India could be affected if New Delhi cancelled the January cricket tour.
The PCB has assured full security for the team, but the Ministry of External Affairs is uncomfortable with the high security risk. A final decision is expected in two weeks.
As the uncertainty prevails over India's cricket tour of strife-torn Pakistan, Qureshi said the Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men were welcome to his country. The Pakistan Minister said he favoured greater people-to-people contacts between the two countries.
The Indian cricket tour of Pakistan in January appeared to be in trouble, with the government here being apprehensive on account of security of the team.
The final decision on the tour, scheduled from January 6 to February 19, will be taken after an assessment of the situation in Pakistan by a high-level team of officials.
<b>The risk in undertaking the tour is high considering the prevailing security situation in Pakistan and "no sensible government" would take it, sources had said citing the recent terror attack on a national sporting event in Peshawar to cite the example of the security situation in Pakistan</b>
Comments : At least the Indian Cricketers have responded to the latest Islamic Terrorism in Mumbai
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