Players could decide fate of series - Pietersen

The fate of England's Test tour to India lies in the hands of the players themselves, according to their captain, Kevin Pietersen, as the team prepares to fly home from the country in the wake of the terrorist atrocities that have rocked Mumbai over the past two days.

Officials from both England and India are adamant that the Test series will go ahead, particularly after the BCCI agreed to shift the second Test from Mumbai to Chennai on a request from the ECB. But according to Pietersen, the situation is not so cut-and-dried. If his team-mates have reservations about taking part, he will not be forcing them to re-join the tour.

"We need to make sure the security's right - but if it's not safe then we won't be coming back," Pietersen told Sky Sports. "People are their own people, I'll never force anyone to do anything or tell them to do anything against their will. On the field I may ask people to do things in a certain way but people run their own lives. We'll have to see how the security is."

Despite the postponement of the final two ODI fixtures in Guwahati and Delhi, England are still scheduled to take part in a planned warm-up match in Baroda on December 5-7, which effectively means that the players will have no more than five days to reach a concensus and return to the country. However, a senior BCCI official admitted that the Indian board is aware that the fate of the series now lies in the hands of the England players.

"Both the boards are in complete agreement on going ahead with the Test series," the official told Cricinfo. "But it seems the stand adopted by the England players will be crucial. At this point, I doubt whether even the ECB can confirm what their [players] position will be. The next few days will be important, but that issue is for the ECB to resolve. As far as the BCCI is concerned, there are absolutely no doubts about the Test series."