Aussies to tour India but still cautious

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New Delhi: Australia now stand on the verge of severe criticism after they decided to go ahead with the tour of India. There were serial blasts in the capital city on Saturday which killed 22 people and injured about 130 had put the Australian tour under threat.

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.

Cricket Australia has confirmed to CNN-IBN that it was satisfied with the reports of the security system in place and will tour India as scheduled.

"Our position is that the tour is going ahead unless we are otherwise persuaded," CA's General Manager of Public Affairs Peter Young said.

"Our advice is there are some concerns and to exercise caution, but currently they do not compromise the tour. Our plan is to depart on September 21 subject to our advice," he added.

CA officials are scheduled to meet the representatives of Australian government on Monday to take an update on the safety situation in India.

CA's General Manager of Cricket, Michael Brown is also expecting a report from team's security advisor, Reg Dickason on Tuesday, who was asked to compile an urgent report on the security situation in India.

Australia A is currently in Hyderabad for a one-day tri-series, involving India A and New Zealand A teams.

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.

"The threat assessment for India has been considerably lower than that of Pakistan," Paul Marsh, the chief executive of the Australian Cricketers' Association told The Australian.

But Australia know now that 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.

"There might be some who criticise us for double standards," Marsh told the Sydney Morning Herald.

"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."

The Australian team is scheduled to leave for India on September 21.

Australia are scheduled to play four Tests in India. The first Test is to begin from October 9 in Bangalore and the third Test of the series is due to be played in Delhi at the Feroz Shah Kotla on October 29. The Australian team is also scheduled to have a week-long camp in Jaipur. All the three cities have been hit by terror attacks recently.

(With inputs from CNN-IBN and PTI)