"It's a government decision. How can I comment on it?" said the secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India Jaywant Lele on Tuesday night reacting to the government's decision not to allow the Indian cricket team to take part in second edition of Asian Test Championship beginning later this month.

Asian Cricket Foundation President Jagmohan Dalmiya, when contacted in Kolkata, declined to comment on the government decision saying "I would not like to comment on the basis of media reports. I will comment only after receiving the official confirmation from the Indian government."

Dalmiya however had said earlier that the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) would go ahead with the Asian Test Championship as per the schedule even if India pulled out. He had said at the end of a two-day ACF conclave held in Kolkata on August 16 that ACC would 'bend backwards' to accommodate India even at 11th hour but not at the cost of disrupting the ATC schedule.

Dalmiya had however conceded that the "championship will lose much of its glamour if India pulled out."

© PTI