Cricket Australia (CA) says the security situation in India is completely different to that in neighbouring Pakistan despite bomb blasts causing a new worry for a scheduled visit.

The Indian cricket board maintains the highly-anticipated Test series between India and Australia will begin as scheduled in Bangalore in October despite a tennis tournament being called off in the southern city due to security fears.

A string of bomb blasts last month in Bangalore, the country’s high-tech hub, left one person dead and a dozen injured.

The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) confirmed in a statement issued today that the tournament, due to begin on September 29, had been cancelled.

“The ATP board can confirm that it has regrettably accepted a petition from the Bangalore Open to suspend the 2008 event due to the local promoter’s security concerns,” it said.

“The total event prize money of $US400,000 ($A470,000) will now be paid into the ATP player pension fund.”

Having just been reluctant to touring Pakistan for the Champions Trophy, Australia’s cricketers could be headed for more worries if outbreaks of violence occur in India.

A handful of Australian players were in the country playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in May when a series of blasts killed more than 60 people in Jaipur, one of the cities to host its own IPL franchise.

Several matches were postponed in Jaipur after the bombings, but the blasts did not prevent the lucrative tournament going ahead.

Australia’s cricketers are scheduled to leave for India in late September, and a CA-appointed security delegation will visit India to assess security arrangements before the party departs.

CA spokesman Peter Young said Australia would not send its players anywhere unsafe, but said security in India was vastly different to that in Pakistan, which has been rocked by wave after wave of suicide bombings.

“Our view on whether we send sides is based purely on security advice as the safety and security of our players and staff is paramount,” Young said.

“But the advice at the moment is that the situation in India is significantly different to Pakistan. It’s chalk and cheese.”

The Board of Control for Cricket in India secretary Niranjan Shah said there would be no change in the itinerary for the Test series, and that Bangalore would host the first Test, starting October 9.

The other Tests are scheduled to be played in Mohali, New Delhi and Nagpur.

Australia, South Africa, England and New Zealand were prepared to boycott the Champions Trophy in Pakistan because of security concerns.

The International Cricket Council eventually decided to postpone the tournament until 2009.

CA is considering leaving for India earlier than originally intended, to get more practise in the country before the Tests, given the Champions Trophy was intended as the major warm-up.

Local media reports speculated that tennis organisers had cited security fears because they had failed to attract top players for the Bangalore event.

India’s only other ATP event, the Chennai Open in January, attracts star players like world No.1 Rafael Nadal, who use it to prepare for the Australian Open, the first grand slam of the season.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh completed their preparations for their one-day series against Australia by beating a Northern Territory XI by 120 runs in Darwin.

The tourists made 4-305 from their 50 overs and bowled the locals out for 185. Mehrab Hossain, who made 132 not out and took 3-31, was man of the match.

Australia will tomorrow play a practice match against an Australian Institute of Sport XI.

Australia and Bangladesh clash in the first of three one-dayers on Saturday.

Former Test cricketers, Geoff Lawson and Stuart MacGill, write exclusively for The Roar Mondays and Wednesdays respectively.

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