"I will be running as a sportsman," said Ravi Shastri, cricketer and former manager of the Indian team, while talking to rediff.com about his low-key participation in the Olympic torch relay ceremony in Muscat, Oman on April 14.

He refused to speak on the controversial issue of the Chinese crackdown in Tibet and the protests that have marred the Olympic torch relay in London [Images], Paris and San Francisco.

Shastri is representing the  "sports of cricket and Indian cricketers," according to a member of the Indian community in Muscat, who was instrumental in inviting him for the ceremony.

"People in Oman have a clear view that one should not mix politics and sports. We expect a safe journey for the torch. There are no chances of trouble," Sunil Vaidya, a senior journalist based in Muscat, told rediff.com.