The Indian government appears in no mood to clear the Under-19 team to tour Pakistan later this month, a decision which could invite a ban on Indian cricket.

"The matter is pending with the home and foreign affairs ministries," Union Sports Minister Vikram Verma told this correspondent in an exclusive chat. "After all, it is much more than just a sporting matter."

In what is perceived as a big blow to the Board of Control for Cricket in India, the Indian government has no objection if India sends a team from the National Cricket Academy to a triangular tournament in Sri Lanka next month but does not want to grant consent for a similar triangular -- at the under-19 level -- scheduled in Pakistan in August-September.

"There are serious issues such as security. Once we hear from the two ministries, we will let the BCCI know," Verma said.

Sources within the government confided that the tour for all practical purposes is off.

"We don't see the prevailing conditions as ideal. We have to adopt a wait-and-see approach," a senior sports ministry official said on Friday.

This is a reversal of the government's earlier position where it cleared Indian participation in junior tournaments in Sri Lanka and Pakistan for what was seen as a precursor to a full-fledged Indian tour of Pakistan in February.

It is a personal setback for BCCI President Jagmohan Dalmiya who has worked hard to put Indo-Pak cricket ties back on the rails after lengthy meetings with his Pakistani counterpart, retired Lieutenant General Tauqir Zia, in Dubai and London.

Dalmiya was in the capital last week and met Verma and Vijay Goel, the Union minister of state for sports, in an effort to push through the junior team's tour of Pakistan.

"We were so confident. The Board chief was personally assured by the prime minister and Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh that a letter to the effect that the Indian senior team could tour Pakistan next February would be issued soon," a senior BCCI official said, speaking on condition that he would not be identified.

The junior cricket initiative undertaken by the Asian Cricket Council in London last month was mooted at three different levels -- a triangular series between the Indian, Pakistan and Sri Lankan cricket academy teams in Sri Lanka in August; an Under-19 triangular tournament in Pakistan in August-September; and the Under-17 Asia Cup in India in November.

The government stand has put all three events in jeopardy. If India does not go to Pakistan the latter is unlikely to come to India for the Under-17 Asia Cup. The triangular series in Sri Lanka has been postponed by a month and could be put off indefinitely.

Pakistan Cricket Board Media Manager Samiul Hasan was cautious about the development but agreed that Pakistan would be disinterested in visiting India for the Under-17 Asia Cup.

"It is difficult to say with certainty but if India does not tour Pakistan for the under-19 triangular, the PCB would not be too keen for the Under-17 Asia Cup," Hasan said.

The BCCI could also face censure from the International Cricket Council if bilateral cricket exchanges with Pakistan are not resumed soon -- including the unnerving possibility of a ban.

But if India does not tour Pakistan, the BCCI may invite Sri Lanka to visit India in February and thus fulfill its commitment to Doordarshan.

The BCCI is bound by its contract to provide at least 27 days of international cricket to Doordarshan every season but can provide only 20 days from a Test series against New Zealand and a triangular which follows in October-November this year.

Doordarshan signed a five-year contract worth Rs 224 crores with the BCCI in 1999.

India has not played a Test on Pakistan soil since 1989; an Indian team last visited the country in 1997 to play three one-day internationals.

Pakistan last played a Test series in India in 1999 but have only since played against India on the neutral grounds of England, Sharjah, Australia and South Africa.

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