The flexibility shown by the Indian cricket board seems to have broken the ice over the recent impasse concerning England’s tour of India. The BCCI on Monday shifted the Tests to Mohali and Chennai, and the England & Wales Cricket Board, sources said, have principally agreed to return to India to complete the Test match-leg of the tour that got disrupted after the recent terror attacks. But a final decision will be taken by the ECB after a clearance from their security consultants.

As per the new schedule proposed, the warm-up game (December 5-7) has been cancelled, and the series will now start with the first match at Chennai from December 11 to 15, followed by a Test in Mohali from December 19 to 23. But there are still some roadblocks for the England squad to return to India within a couple of weeks of their hasty departure, as BCCI secretary N Srinivasan clarified in his media release announcing the changed venues: “The England board will be sending their security consultant for discussions with the authorities in India before final clearance is given for the tour.”

After reaching home, several England players have expressed reservations about their safety in India in the wake of the terror strikes in Mumbai — a city that featured prominently on the tour itinerary. It is learnt that ECB will let the players take a final call on their availability for the tour.

Meanwhile, it is learnt that the BCCI went out of their way in their backroom negotiations with ECB as they tried to save the series. Initially, the BCCI had opted to stick to the original schedule (Tests in Ahmedabad and Mumbai), but the ECB wasn’t too keen on that.

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