England should go back to India, says Nasser Hussain

London, Dec 2: Former England cricket captain Nasser Hussain said the national team can 'make a statement' by going back to India for the Test series.

The England team cut short its One-day series in India and returned home Saturday following terror-attack in Mumbai. The players were reluctant to come for the Test series which now is likely to take place after the venues were changed.

The Test match scheduled to be in Mumbai has been shifted to Chennai while Ahmedabad has been replaced by Mohali.

"Eventually, the game has to go on, just as people in London had to get back on Tubes and buses after the 2005 bomb attacks. As long as the security experts say it is as safe as it can be to return and as long as the Indian people want the tour to continue, England can make a statement by going back," Hussain, who was born in Chennai, wrote in the Daily Mail.

But former England captain Graham Gooch feels it is risky for English players to travel to India.

"Cricket teams around the world have been caught up in terrorist situations but have never been a target. But it's been stated in this case that British and American passport holders were a target, so you'd have to think, sadly, that an England team and their supporters would be targets. If one individual decides they cannot go then others will probably follow," Gooch was quoted as saying in the Daily Telegraph.

After a security assessment of the rearranged venues, the players and management are set to decide over the next 24 hours whether to fly back for the matches.

"When we toured India in 2001 under my captaincy just after the attacks on New York, I had no problem accepting the decisions of Robert Croft and Andrew Caddick not to tour. I told them it would not be held against them and it should not be held against Andrew Flintoff, Steve Harmison or any other England players if they decide they are not prepared to go," said Hussain.

"I know this is different because India itself has been targeted, but the country is so important to cricket and to the Indian people that we owe it to them to go back and play, as long as every possible precaution has been taken," he said.

--IANS