The secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Niranjan Shah, told journalists on Wednesday that the Indian team would not participate in a tri-nation one-day tournament scheduled for January in Dhaka. The Indian withdrawal has now thrown the future of the tournament, which was also to involve Pakistan and Bangladesh, in doubt.

On the sidelines of the England-India Test at Motera, Ahmedabad, Shah told journalists, "We have a busy schedule next year, and I think it will be too taxing for our cricketers to take part in the triangular series."

Although the taxing schedule for the Indian cricketers was cited as the reason, the decision also falls in line with the decision of not playing Pakistan, a stand that led the BCCI to call off a one-day series in Toronto as well as a tour to Pakistan.

Thus far, however, India has limited this non-participation to bilateral series. The one exception was the Asian Test Championship, a four-nation sub-continental affair.

The BCCI President Jagmohan Dalmiya also clarified the decision to the press. "The pressures of the international calender before the 2003 World Cup have compelled us to expres our reluctance to take part," Dalmiya told the Hindustan Times. "It would perhaps also not be fair to Bangladesh if we send a second-string team, so we have written to them stating the genuine reasons for our reluctance."

Pakistan will raise India's withdrawal with the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) when the body meets in Sharjah next month. "Asian cricket can not flourish if the countries cannot act together; particularly when India is not playing Pakistan, it is not healthy for Asian cricket nor for Indian and Pakistani cricket," Lt General Tauqir Zia, president of the Pakistan Cricket Board and chairman of the ACC, told PTI.

© CricInfo