da leao： India on Monday said it will not be bullied into participating in theAsian Test Championship
da doce： 20-Aug-2001India on Monday said it will not be bullied into participating in theAsian Test Championship.Reacting strongly to a statement by the Asian Cricket FoundationPresident Jagmohan Dalmiya that India should convey its decisionregarding participation by August 23 or the Championship will go aheadwithout India, Bharti said a decision cannot be forced upon thegovernment.”Kisi ki dhamki se faisla nahin liya jayega (a decision will not betaken based merely on threats by someone),” said Bharti in New Delhi,while inspecting the work underway at the Shivaji Stadium, one of thevenues for the November 3-11 Afro-Asian Games.However, Bharti said since a decision had not been taken so far, itshould not be construed that India has pulled out of the championship.”A decision will be taken shortly. After all sports is not the onlything the government has to think about. The country and its policiesare of greater importance than sports,” she said.The decision has to be taken by the Ministry of External Affairs, shesaid, adding “I will convey it as soon as I get to know of it”.The second Asian Test Championship is scheduled to start in Multan,Pakistan on August 29 with the lung-opener pitting the hosts againstBangladesh in what would be the first ever Test between the twocountries.
