No change in Tests venues or schedule, tour is on

New Delhi, Sep 30 (UNI) A confident BCCI today ruled out any change in Test venues or schedule saying that the Board was satisfied by the security provided by the government to the visiting Australian team.

''The tour is on. There is no question of changing any venue or the dates of the four-Test series,'' head of the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) finance committee Rajiv Shukla said.

This effectively ends the speculation regarding the change of the venue for the third Test. This means that Feroz Shah Kotla here will host the third Test in New Delhi from October 29, as scheduled.

The decision to stick to the venues and schedule was taken after a three-member BCCI delegation met Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta and other senior officials to discuss the security arrangements here this afternoon.

Besides Rajiv Shukla, other members of the delegation were I S Bindra and BCCI Chief Administrative Officer Ratnakar Shetty.

Talking to newspersons after the meeting, Shukla said, ''We are satisfied by the security arrangement provided by the government. They have committed full co-operation to us.'' ''We met the officials to discuss the security during the series.

We put forth our views. The series is on and there is no change in the venue or the schedule,'' Shukla added.

Earlier, media reports had suggested that some Australian players were not keen on playing in Delhi after the recent serial blasts.

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