Zaheer fears for future of Asian cricket

KARACHI: Pakistan cricket legend Zaheer Abbas says he has fears for the future of Asia cricket after India decided on Sunday to move the second edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) abroad because of security fears.Zaheer told 'The News' that the switching of IPL is a bad omen for Asian cricket, adding that it will increase doubt's about the region's ability to host the 2012 World Cup."It is bad new for Asian cricket," he said. "I mean, the shifting of the IPL outside India will send wrong signals to the rest of the world that this region is not safe to host international cricket," he stressed.Zaheer said that the Asian cricket-playing nations will have to sit down together and devise a joint strategy to overcome the security issue that is now beginning to haunt them after dealing major setbacks to Pakistan."Pakistan is the biggest victim of this problem," said Zaheer referring to the fact that the cricket in this country has been hit hard because of security-related problems in recent years."But now India has also been affected. Unless we come out with concrete steps, things will get worse for us and there is a big possibility that we might also lose the hosting rights for the next World Cup."The 2012 World Cup is to be co-hosted by Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. However, following an attack on Sri Lankan cricketers in Lahore earlier this year, doubts have been raised about Pakistan's status as one of the World Cup's co-hosts.