New Zealand and Australia are part of a contingency plan to shift the 2011 Cricket World Cup away from the South Asian sub-continent if terrorism continues to threaten sport in that region, but New Zealand Cricket chief executive Justin Vaughan said it was vital for the sport's existence that India continued to host tours and events, reports the New Zealand media website stuff.co.nz.
The Indian Premier League, which is due to start in mid-March, was last year moved from India to South Africa because of concerns over terrorism.
The tournament is again in jeopardy following a recent terror attack in Pune from a group known as Brigade 313, which has threatened to target specific events: international hockey, the IPL and the Commonwealth Games.
The 2011 world cup is scheduled to be held in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Pakistan was ruled out as a co-host because of the threat of terrorism.
Vaughan admitted there was some contingency planning involving New Zealand.
"You cannot move the timing of the tournament, in March-April, so really there's only Australia-New Zealand and South Africa who could host it."
Vaughan, though, was adamant the tournament would go ahead as planned and was hopeful New Zealand would tour India as scheduled at the end of the year.
"We've got to find a way to make this work because Asia is the heartbeat of cricket in the present day.
"Obviously, players need to be safe, but we cannot run away when a threat is made.
"By tightening the security measures around the teams we somehow have to make it safe otherwise the sport will struggle to survive if we cannot find a solution.
"India is so important and you cannot envisage a scenario when you cannot tour India – it's not worth thinking about."
Vaughan said that assessing security for the India tour would be critical.
"The host's security plans are vital. I'd go anywhere in the world if there was the right security plan.
"I'd go to Iraq, if the right security was in place."
