Test series to go on as per schedule: BCCI

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New Delhi: The BCCI on Thursday said that India's Test series against England will be held as per schedule but the second match in Mumbai could be shifted to another venue.

After prolonged negotiations with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) officials, BCCI vice-president Lalit Modi said that the Test series will begin as per schedule in Ahmedabad on December 11.

Modi said that the second Test in Mumbai, where over 100 people were killed in terror attack last night, could be shifted to an alternative venue.

"The series will go on as per schedule. Only the second match in Mumbai would be shifted to some other venue which we have not decided yet.

"The England team which is camping in Bhubaneswar will return home after the remainder of the seven-match One-Day series was scrapped following the terror strikes in Mumbai" he said.

The decision to call off the One-Day series was taken after a meeting of BCCI Secretary N Srinivasan with ECB Managing Director Hugh Morris in Bhubaneswar on Thursday which was also attended by visiting skipper Kevin Pietersen, coach Peter Moores and team manager Reg Dickason. Modi said the England players will have a safe Test series here.

"The government and the security officials here are proactive and India is a safe Test centre. The series will be safe for the players," he said.

Modi was quoted by as saying a website that the BCCI was thinking of shifting the second Test to a venue in South India.

"We at the BCCI have agreed to move that Test (second). We are looking where to reschedule it. Chances are it may be somewhere in the south of India. We are just looking at where to play that," he said.

Srinivasan had also expressed the hope that England team will come back for the Test series though Morris said it would depend on the nature of security advice the team gets from various sources.

"We are looking at several options and we will go by the security advisors. If they advise us to play in India, we will play the Test .

"We hope they will come to play the Test matches," he told reporters in Bhubaneswar.

The ghastly terror strikes in Mumbai led to a spate of postponements with the Champions League, scheduled to be held in Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai from December 3 to 10, being deferred while the rebel Indian cricket League also called off the World Series event in Ahmedabad.

A few other domestic tournaments and scheduled press conferences were also put off.