NEW DELHI, Sept 14: India’s cricket chiefs were on Sunday hoping Australia’s Test tour would begin as scheduled next week despite security concerns following a series of deadly bomb attacks in New Delhi.

“The blasts are a concern, but I don’t think it will have an impact on the Australian tour,” Indian cricket board secretary Niranjan Shah said.

Five coordinated bomb blasts ripped through crowded markets across the Indian capital on Saturday evening, killing more than 20 people and wounding at least 90 others.

New Delhi is scheduled to host the third of the four Tests between India and Australia from October 29 after Ricky Ponting’s tourists arrive next Sunday for the six-week tour.

Cricket Australia has commissioned an urgent review of the security situation in India with officials expecting a decision “in the next week or so.”

“We are concerned and saddened about the news that there has been these bombings overnight in New Delhi,” CA public affairs manager Peter Young said on Sunday.

“Whenever something like this happens we have a formal process that we invoke and we do that in conjunction with the Australian Cricketers Association (ACA).

“New Delhi is still a fair way off, but it’s obviously a concern.

“We’ll get some specialist advice and seek to understand what’s going on and what the risks are.” 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 had also refused to undertake a Test tour of Pakistan in March-April for similar security fears.

ACA chief executive Paul Marsh said the players’ representative body would be guided by expert advice.

“We don’t make these calls ourselves. We are relying on a report from Reg (Dickason),” Marsh said.

“It was deemed safe enough for the Australia A tour (earlier this month).

“The threat level in India is different to Pakistan. You only have to look at the DFAT (Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade) website.

“You’ve got to understand there is a big difference between the two countries.” Young said a decision had not been made yet on whether Dickason needed to travel to India to compile this week’s report.

CA had already completed a pre-tour visit last month as part of its normal procedures.

“One way or the other he’s an expert in this area. He’d be one of the people we’d be asking advice from,” Young said.

“He was very closely involved in the recent issues with cricket and Pakistan.

“I don’t think we have any concerns about going to India. But we need to understand the detail relating to New Delhi.”The Australian government’s updated travel advice for India is “to exercise a high degree of caution because of the high risk of terrorist activity by militant groups.” Ponting’s men are expected to spend the first week training in Jaipur, the state capital of western Rajasthan, where 65 people were killed in similar blasts in May.

The blasts, however, did not deter foreign players, including former Australian spinner Shane Warne, from taking part in the Indian Premier League Twenty20 competition which was being held at that time in various cities, including Jaipur.

The southern city of Bangalore, which hosts the first Test, was rocked by eight bombs in July that killed a woman and injured seven.

England, who tour India after the Australian series, are scheduled to play the first of two Tests in the western city of Ahmedabad, where 45 people were killed in July in serial bomb blasts.—AFP