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by Kuldip Lal

NEW DELHI, Tuesday, (AFP) - The expected US military strikes against Afghanistan have wreaked havoc with sports schedules in the Indian sub-continent sparking fears that an entire season could have been ruined.

Sports officials in Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are counting the millions of dollars lost in sponsorship as, one by one, international events have fallen by the wayside.

Pakistan, at the centre of the war against terrorism, has been the worst hit with two money-spinning cricket tours going up in smoke and the regional South Asian Federation (SAF) Games postponed indefinitely.

India postponed the inaugural Afro-Asian Games in November due to security concerns, although a lack of preparation was cited in many quarters as the real reason for calling off the event.

It now seems likely, as some media reports have suggested, that the Games may not be held at all because the government is reportedly wary of spending 35 million dollars on an event that has failed to enthuse the sporting world.

Sri Lanka and Bangladesh also face the prospect of the West Indies and Zimbabwe cancelling scheduled cricket tours of the region.

"Sports has taken a backseat in the prevailing situation and the sub- continent is bearing the brunt," a senior Indian sports official told AFP on Tuesday.

"Baseball may have resumed in the US but it appears we will be deprived of action in the near future."

Pakistani cricketers were left twiddling their thumbs when New Zealand called off a scheduled Test tour this month.

That was a huge financial blow to the cash-starved Pakistan Cricket Board, already deprived of a 15-million dollar sponsorship deal because of the Indian government's refusal to restore cricketing ties with their rival neighbour.

Pakistan is hoping their next international assignment -- a one-day series against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe in the Gulf emirate of Sharjah from October 26 -- does not run aground.

Pakistan has reportedly asked Sri Lanka to fill the void left by New Zealand, but it appears improbable a cricket tour will be scheduled as tensions rise on the border with Afghanistan following the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington on September 11.

India have been more fortunate, so far, with its cricketers currently on a two-month tour of South Africa. But there are murmurs in the British press over the fate of England's Test series in India in November and December.

India is also scheduled to host the world tennis doubles championships in Bangalore in November, the World Open squash in Bombay in December and the ATP Indian Open tennis in Madras in January.

Organisers are confident all three events will be held as scheduled, but one said: "Who can predict what the future has in store for us?"

The West Indies cricket board will decide this weekend whether to undertake a seven-week tour of Sri Lanka from November to play three Tests and a one-day series also featuring Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe is also scheduled to play in Bangladesh in January before coming to India for a month-long tour.

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