India's cricket tour of
Pakistan called off

India's cricket tour to Pakistan, scheduled to begin in December has been cancelled after the Union government refused to clear it.

The decision came after Union sports minister Uma Bharti met Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Tuesday, official sources said.

Wednesday was the last day for the Board of Control for Cricket in India to give its reply to the Pakistan Cricket Board on the tour.

The PCB had asked the BCCI to inform it by Wednesday to help the board make alternative arrangements in case the India tour did not come through.

However, BCCI secretary Jaywant Lele said this morning that the board did not have any information about the tour being called off. "You ask the government of India. We have no intimation yet." Even the BCCI head office in Bombay said they had no official word of the tour being cancelled.

UNI

Mail Cricket Editor