Perth, Jan 18 (UNI) Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram assured Cricket Australia (CA) that things will calm down after elections in Pakistan and appealed the board to go ahead with their scheduled tour in March.
''I think everything will be fine after the elections. Things will settle down,'' Akram said.
''It is not sporting figures who are being targeted,'' he claimed.
Recently, former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated during a rally in Pakistan. The incident aroused serious security concerns for CA as their team was scheduled to visit Pakistan for a Test and One Day series.
Just when CA was reviewing the security in Pakistan, another bomb attack killed at least ten people this week. But the left-arm pacer dismissed all concerns saying Pakistan will provide adequate security to the visitors.
''Australia should play in Pakistan. They will be safe there, and there will be so much security around them,'' he said.
CA is keeping a close watch on Zimbabwe's ongoing tour of Pakistan with the first Test set to start in Karachi on January 21.
But the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade posted travel advice on its website warning of the danger of terrorist attacks against Australians in Pakistan.
DFAT earlier warned CA saying ''We continue to receive a stream of credible reports indicating terrorists are in the advanced stages of planning attacks.'' Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has so far refused to consider shifting the series to a neutral venue.
Australia is due to play three Tests, five one-day internationals and a Twenty20 match in Pakistan, but the tour still remains in doubt because of widespread violence.
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