London (PTI): Kevin Pietersen and his men should call off their tour of India because the situation there is far from safe, former England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Lord MacLaurin said on Tuesday.
MacLaurin said it would be sad if ECB, which is awaiting report from its security adviser Reg Dickason, eventually gives its go-ahead for the two-match Test series. "I think the ECB will probably say yes and I think it will be very sad," MacLaurin told BBC Radio 5 Live.
"I don't think any security people can actually say it's going to be safe. If it was left to me, I wouldn't go," he added. Following the terror attacks in Mumbai, the England team returned home abandoning the last two games of their seven-match ODI series.
Though the BCCI has offered them a revised itinerary where Chennai hosts the first Test and Mohali the second, ECB is yet to make up its mind on whether to send the players. MacLaurin, however, sides with the ECB on its stance that no player should be forced to tour.
"I don't think anybody has a duty to go back," he said. "These terrorists have specifically targeted British people and American people. I fully understand the England players, especially those with young families, might think this is a step too far," said the former ECB boss.
Even in case England returns for the series, Andrew Flintoff, Steve Harmison, Graeme Swann and James Anderson are unlikely to be part of the touring party.