Flying home England to decide on India return
Because of reports that the gunmen were targeting foreigners, there are fears that the England cricket team could become a major target if they return for the two Tests next month.
The last two One-day Internationals of the seven-match series, scheduled for Saturday in Guwahati and Tuesday in Delhi, were called off in the aftermath of the coordinated terror attacks in Mumbai on Wednesday night. That has given the team time off ahead of the Test series, which is due to start in Ahmedabad from Dec 11.
Although the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has switched the second Test from Mumbai to Chennai and the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has given assurances it will proceed with the series, there is speculation that the England players, after talking to their families, may decide that they won’t return.
“I haven’t a clue,” England captain Kevin Pietersen said on Friday, before the players started their journey home. “We’ll have to get all the logistic stuff sorted first but the decision to go back to London will buy us some time and if we need to fly back to India on Monday or Tuesday or Wednesday next week then so be it.
“Right now, all we want to do is go home because of what we’ve seen and the fact we’ve woken up this morning and the saga is still continuing in Mumbai.”
Pietersen said the players enjoyed their last visit to Mumbai. But they had been taking lots of calls from concerned friends and relatives since the shootings on Wednesday.
“The guys were happy as anything in Mumbai in the two weeks we were there,” Pietersen said. “The way of life in Mumbai is fantastic and that way of life, which is the best way of life in India, has now gone.
“I bet all the guys lost a whole battery on their mobiles yesterday with calls from friends and relatives and kids wanting to know where daddy is. It’s a real situation and we’re being taken out of the situation and we’ll make a decision on it over the next 48 to 72 hours.”
Ian MacLaurin, the former ECB chairman, said he believed the security staff that travel with the team would advise them not to go back. The team’s security expert, Reg Dickason, will do an assessment in India.
“It was absolutely the right decision to come home,” MacLaurin said. “The England cricket team are very high-profile individuals.
“If these fanatics are going to target people then the England cricket side could be a very big target for them. My own view is that I would be very, very surprised if the security people will give them the OK to go back.”
Pietersen conceded there would be pressure on the players to return for the Test matches.
“I do think the BCCI will make every single effort to get us back here playing Test match cricket in India. There are TV rights and financial considerations and they run world cricket don’t they?” Pietersen was quoted as saying by the Press Association. “But we will not come back to this country if it’s not safe. My life means more to me than anything else and I won’t come back if it’s not safe.”—AP