``It is tragic. Even the Prudential cup which India won through hard toil of our players was not spared. Whosoever is involved, the act is deplorable,'' he remarked at a press conference here. Abdullah said that any measure which was aimed at improving the Indo-Pak relation should be welcomed by all and sports was one such area which could bring the two neighbours close.

He said that the Shiv Sena was `batting on a different wicket' where there were chances of loosing on the `improving relation' front. ``Thackerayji should rethink about his stand on the tour,'' he appealed. To a suggestion on holding an Indo-Pak match in Jammu and Kashmir, Abdullah said that the itinerary of the Pakistani team hadalready been fixed but given a chance ``I would love to host an Indo-Pak match in the state.''

He appreciated the stand taken by the Bharatiya Janata Party- (BJP) led government at the Centre vis a vis the tour and said that the Centre had made it clear that those involved in the BCCI episode would be punished irrespective of the party affiliations.

He appealed to the Maharashtra government that it should not allow ``abnormal'' incidents which could affect the law and order situation in the State. ``I hope adequate measures would be taken for holding the cricket fixtures smoothly and peacefully,'' Abdullah said.