Pak media decries Oz "double standards" in agreeing for India tour despite bomb blasts

Sydney, Sept 15 (ANI): By going ahead with the Indian tour in the aftermath of Saturday's serial blasts in New Delhi, Cricket Australia (CA) has shown double standards about the security situation, especially after a few months of canceling the Pakistan series and then Champions Trophy (CT) citing 'security reasons", said an article in Pakistani daily The News.

"It was feared that Australian tour to India would also be postponed after the blasts or at least Australian cricketers would express some security concerns. But, nothing such happened and Cricket Australia decided to go ahead with the tour setting aside any affect of recent blasts," said the article.

The Australian team is scheduled to leave for India on September 21. Cricket Australia had said that they would review security but will be no changes in the schedule of Australia's tour to India as long as the security of their team is taken care of, added the paper.

According to it, the CA has termed India "safe" as compared to Pakistan and said tour should not be postponed. "The threat assessment for India has been considerably lower than that of Pakistan," the paper quoted Paul Marsh, the chief executive of the Australian Cricketers' Association, as telling The Australian.

But, added the paper, Australia knows now that if they have decided to travel to India, they will face the "heat" from the Asian bloc. After they refused to travel to Pakistan, accusations of "double standards" are likely to be thrown at them.

Speaking to local Aussie media, Marsh said: "There might be some who criticise us for double standards. But, people need to understand our starting point is that we always want to tour. We go to extreme lengths to obtain the best advice on the situation of each country we visit. In Pakistan's case this year, people we rely on told us not to tour. If they say not to tour again, we'll listen. Bombs going off anywhere are a concern."

Cricket Australia had said that they would review security but will be no changes in the schedule of Australia's tour to India as long as the security of their team is taken care of. It confirmed that it was satisfied with the reports of the security system in place and will tour India as scheduled.

In the past, Australia cancelled their tour to Pakistan and then refused to travel there for the Champions Trophy. But there are indications that Australia is likely to proceed with the tour of India. (ANI)