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Dubai Cricket Council upset

The Dubai Cricket Council is upset over the Indian cricket team's refusal to participate in a one-day series against Pakistan in Dubai in September.

DCC secretary Vikram Kaul said he would soon be writing to Board of Control for Cricket in India secretary J Y Lele, conveying his association's feelings following the refusal to play.

Kaul told Gulf News, ''The BCCI should have informed us directly that they will not be available for the tournament.''

He said it is unfortunate that the DCC had to come to know of the BCCI's decision only through newspaper reports.

Since Lele had not written to the DCC, he said, it was wrong on the BCCI official's part to make a public statement before informing the DCC.

"I will be writing to him (Lele) soon, stating this matter. He should have written to us stating the reasons why he had turned down our invitation.''

When contacted by Gulf News, Lele said: ''If the DCC wants, I can send them a fax right away.''

Asked why the Indian team had pulled out, he said: ''We do not have to give the DCC any reason. We are not available to respond to their invitation.''

Despite the Indian cricket team pulling out, the DCC appears to be keen to go ahead with the tournament. ''We will do our best to hold the tournament. We will get in touch with Sri Lanka. With Pakistan as the other team, we will try our best effort to host the tournament," said an official.

Pakistan have accepted the DCC's invitation as their team will be returning home from Toronto after playing India there in early September.

Meanwhile, the resignation of the entire Sri Lankan cricket board has created a problem for the DCC. It will now have to wait for a new board to take over to cofirm whether the team will participate in the Dubai tournament.

UNI