Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Shaharyar Khan on Friday dispelled fears that the forthcoming Indian cricket tour could be called off due to minor crowd disturbances such as stone or bottle throwing.
"One stone can't call off the tour and the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed say that both the boards will take into account the seriousness of any incident," Shaharyar Khan told a press conference.
"Crowd reactions are common in cricket and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) or Indian players can't call off the tour unilaterally," said Khan.
"It's a qualitative series (and) has lots of political implications and repercussions at the highest level of the governments," said Khan. Khan said surveillance cameras would be used to identify troublemakers.
The PCB chief urged fans to match the spirit of the crowd in Chennai, which gave the winning Pakistan team a standing ovation in the 1998-1999 series.
"Both teams have world class stars and fans must enjoy top class cricket like the Chennai crowd. I have never seen such a reception by fans of the losing side in my 55 years of association with the game," said Khan, referring to Pakistan's narrow 12-run win at Chennai.
"Win or lose, enjoy the game. It's not politics, its cricket."
Khan said there was so much excitement surrounding the series that even President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali were willing to buy tickets.
"The response on ticket sale is huge and we will not entertain any free passes because we have directives from the president that no free passes should be given. Even the President and the Prime Minister are willing to buy tickets," the PCB chief said.
Khan said his board expected a revenue of 80 to 100 million rupees (1.73 million dollars) from ticket sales, but added: "I am disappointed we don't have large stadiums like India and considering the rapid sale of tickets I fear many fans would have to watch the series on television."
The PCB launched ticket sales on the Internet on Tuesday, while it is hoping to sell tickets at the stadium a week before each match.
Indian team will arrive in Lahore on March 10 and play a warm up one-day game the following day before the start of the one-day series with a match in Karachi on March 13.
The remaining one-day matches will be played in Rawalpindi (March 16), Peshawar (March 19) and Lahore (March 21 and 23).
The Test matches will be played in Multan, Lahore and Rawalpindi.
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