Vaughan said the players' fear is likely to be compounded by reports that the terrorists, who laid siege to the Indian financial hub, were looking to target westerners.

"It's this mental effect after they've been so related to the incident reports that these terrorists have targeted westerners, running through hotel foyers asking for British and American people.

"There are a lot of young players in this England squad who are new to this sort of thing. Can they focus and concentrate on cricket so soon afterwards? Any slightly negative mentality and they will get found out," he explained.

The former skipper said he would have certainly withdrawn from the tour in such a situation.

"I personally would find it very difficult to go back, having been there and watched the scenes on TV scenes of gunmen shooting people and corpses being dragged out of a hotel where the England team were staying a fortnight ago and where they were due to be staying in just over a fortnight. I felt concerned when I was in Bangalore with the performance squad," he said.

"It's going to be very tricky for Kevin Pietersen in particular. If he'd been just a player, I'm pretty sure he wouldn't go back, but as the England captain he'll have to consider the wider picture. I was put in a similar situation when we went to Zimbabwe in 2004 but it was a political issue not a safety issue.

... contd.