Board of Control for Cricket in India joint-secretary Ratnakar Shetty, who led a three-member team to Pakistan to check out security and other arrangements for India's proposed tour, expressed satisfaction with the playing facilities at venues where matches between the two countries are likely to be staged. But he refused to comment on security arrangements the Pakistani government has offered the Indian team during its six-week tour, scheduled to begin on March 6.
"I am not saying anything on the matter [security] as Yashowardhan Azad, senior IPS official of the Home Ministry was part of our team and he will submit his report to Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani on Tuesday," Shetty told newsmen at the Indira Gandhi International airport soon after returning to Delhi on Monday after spending five days in Pakistan.
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BCCI media relations director Amrit Mathur told rediff.com the team visited six venues in Pakistan and found the playing conditions at almost all the grounds satisfactory.
"Barring one place where we found there were some problems, by and large the ground conditions and other playing facilities were of international standard," Mathur said.
The team visited Lahore, Faisalabad, Karachi, Peshawar, Multan and Rawalpindi.
"The cricket facilities were good. The hotels in most of the places were good too," he said.
Asked if the Indian team would be playing matches in Peshawar and Karachi, Mathur declined to comment, saying it is a security-related matter and only Azad, who is a 1976 batch officer of the Indian Police Service, is competent to comment on the subject.
"He will submit his report to the Union Home Ministry, which in turn will forward the same to the BCCI. Jagmohan Dalmiya, who is currently in London, will return to India on Thursday. The BCCI will meet this weekend in Kolkata to decide the matter and also release the tour schedule," he added.
On Sunday, the three-member team met former Pakistan foreign secretary and Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Shahryar Khan, who assured them that the Pakistan government is committed to providing adequate security cover to members of the Indian team during their stay in Pakistan.
