
Butt to make plea to India
PCB chairman Ijaz Butt will travel to India to "convince" government and cricket officials to go ahead with the scheduled tour.
India are due to play three Tests and five one-day matches in Pakistan early next year, but the trip is shrouded in doubt after a junior hockey team were refused permission to travel to Pakistan due to security concerns.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India have maintained that they are willing to travel, but would be forced to pull out if the Ministry of External Affairs refuses to grant permission.
The PCB is open to the option of shifting the tour to a neutral venue if India refuse to travel, but only in a "worst case scenario".
"We are not even thinking about having the series anywhere else except Pakistan," Butt said. "Playing at some neutral venue is an extreme and last option.
"I am willing to even travel to India to personally talk to BCCI officials and the government and convince them it is absolutely imperative for them to undertake the scheduled tour."
Butt is also planning to ask Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari and prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to intervene and save the tour, The News reported.
"There are security issues, but India has been to Pakistan thrice in the last four years and have had no problems playing here," added Butt.
"The tour is of great importance for us because if India do not travel, then we stand the risk of losing the Champions Trophy.
"We will also have other teams such as Sri Lanka pulling out of scheduled tours."
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