Skipper Sourav Ganguly on Saturday night denied India's top cricketers were concerned about their safety ahead of the tour of Pakistan.
In the backdrop of assassination attempts on President Gen Pervez Musharraf in recent days, at least three senior members of the Indian team currently in Australia reportedly expressed concern about security when the side goes to Pakistan in about two months.
Unconfirmed reports said that there was a plan by the team to write to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) voicing its concerns.
On Saturday afternoon, word spread around the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) that Indian players were not keen to tour Pakistan on account of the recent bomb blasts in that country.
According to the rumours, the players had discussed the matter inside the dressing room after the end of the first day's play at Melbourne on Friday. They had also prepared a letter and were about to fax it to the BCCI, outlining their concerns.
Ganguly, however, denied that there was any talk of players pulling out of the scheduled tour of Pakistan. "I have also heard such rumours. There is no truth in it," Ganguly said.
"Right now we are busy with the third Test. We have not even thought about the issue or the security matter."
Indian manager Shivlal Yadav also denied such a thing happened. "I want to categorically deny the story. There was no such discussion and there is no such letter," he said.
Though the schedule of the tour is yet to be decided, the Indians have reportedly proposed that it begin in the first week of March so they could have some time to prepare after returning from Australia in the second week of February.
