India pull out of Toronto 1-day series (21 August 1999)
Karachi, Aug 20: India has officially withdrawn its team from next month's five-match one-day international series against Pakistan at Toronto, Canada
21-Aug-1999
21 August 1999
India pull out of Toronto 1-day series
The Dawn
Karachi, Aug 20: India has officially withdrawn its team from next
month's five-match one-day international series against Pakistan at
Toronto, Canada.
J.Y Lele, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India
(BCCI), told BBC Hindi service that the team has been pulled out on
the advice of Indian Ministry of External Affairs.
The series was to be played between Sept 11 and 19. Two months back,
the series lost its sponsor (Sahara Group) as tension mounted in the
Kargil sector.
Lele told the BBC that the foreign office has advised that it would
not be appropriate to play Pakistan in September because of the
political atmosphere.
Lele, however, said the office has given the go-ahead to play
Pakistan in the Carlton and United one-day series in Australia
starting from Jan 9.
Lele further added that the ministry has advised not to play a
one-to-one series with Pakistan at the moment. "We have been allowed
to play Pakistan where there is an additional team besides the two."
Pakistan and India are also scheduled to play in Sharjah triangular
in April.
The International Management Group (IMG) had given India a deadline
until the end of this week to convey its availability so that it can
decide its future line of action.
India's withdrawal from the Toronto series means that Pakistan's
international season would begin from Oct 3 with the Sharjah
tournament to be followed up by the tour of Australia later in the
month.
Pakistan Cricket Board's ad hoc committee chairman Mujeeb-ur-Rehman
said it was unfortunate that India has pulled out from the Canadian
series. He, however, felt that it was their decision since the ball
was in their court.
"But I think it is a blessing in disguise. We will go to Sharjah with
a new look team. I mean that by then the investigations would be over
and we would know which players are available and who will be the
captain.
"For the first time, the Pakistan team will play with no allegations
on it whatsoever," he remarked.
Source :: The Dawn (www.dawn.com)