Australian player concerns about venturing to terrorism-affected New Delhi next month were given voice by Stuart Clark today, as Cricket Australia (CA) continued its search for a fuller picture of events.
Clark said he "would be lying" if he said there was not at least some trepidation about travelling to New Delhi for the third Test of the much-anticipated series between India and Australia.
The Test is scheduled to begin on October 29.
"I would be lying if I said there wasn't concern and that we are going to Delhi and there is that sort of thing going on where we are going to," Clark told Sydney radio station 2KY today.
"It is pretty fresh in everyone's mind at the moment, we are still hanging out and waiting to see what will happen, but there is some sort of concern that we are going to somewhere where an explosion has just been."
On Saturday afternoon a home-made bomb exploded in a flower market in the southern locality of Mehrauli, killing a boy and wounding around 25 others.
It occurred exactly two weeks after a co-ordinated series of five blasts in the capital killed 24 people.
The two incidents brought to 38 the total number of bombings to take place around India since May this year, killing 125 people.
Delhi cricket officials have conveyed their fears that the Test will be moved away from the Feroz Shah Kotla ground to another city, but for the moment CA and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) are not making any adjustments to their plans.
Australian team security adviser Frank Dimasi has set about the task of gathering information on the bombings, while the BCCI issued a directive to beef-up security around the touring party.
CA spokesman Peter Young said the organisation had not been informed of any changes to the planned schedule.
"We are scheduled to get to Delhi in just under a month's time, but the advice we're getting is that the things that need to be happening are happening," he said.
"We're not aware of any advice that says we need to change our security processes."
The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade advises visitors to "exercise a high degree of caution in India because of the high risk of terrorist activity by militant groups".
However, the department has not changed its overall level of the advice since the latest bombing.
The Australian team and their support staff flew out of Jaipur this morning and after a brief stopover in Mumbai were scheduled to reach Hyderabad, the venue for their tour match against a board president's IX, later tonight.
