OSAMA BIN LADEN has done more damage to Pakistan cricket than ball-tampering, match-fixing and forfeited-Test controversies combined.

Since the September 11 terrorist attacks in the US in 2001, six tours and series hosted by Pakistan have either been cancelled or postponed, relegating the nation to cricket's backwaters - a destination deemed too dangerous for Western players.

Now, the man dubbed "India's Osama", Dawood Ibrahim, threatens to destroy the remaining hope Pakistan cricket has of re-emerging by dismantling the crucial relationship between the boards of Pakistan and India.

Ibrahim, a notorious gangster who reputedly funds his terrorist activities through a billion-dollar drug trade in Afghan opium, is blamed by India as the mastermind of last month's Mumbai blasts that claimed 172 lives. He is also held responsible for India's worst terrorist attack, the Mumbai attack of 1993 that killed 250 people.

He is associated with Pakistan cricket's director general, Javed Miandad, through the marriage of his daughter Mahrukh to Junaid, son of the batting legend.

India's government is demanding that Pakistan hand over Ibrahim, who is believed to have hidden himself in luxurious palaces for 15 years in the world's second-largest Muslim nation. India suggests that Pakistan is actively involved in shrouding Ibrahim and - retaliatory or not - cricket has become a pawn in the game.

Once Pakistan's most powerful and important supporter, India is threatening to pull out of a tour starting later this month. "If India doesn't tour, it will be a total disaster for Pakistan cricket," said former PCB chief operating officer Shafqat Naghmi. "It's very important for cricket, not just in Pakistan but in the world, for India to come. If they don't, it would relegate Pakistan further into isolation.

"If India doesn't come, I can't see New Zealand coming even though their tour is at the end of next year. Australia is supposed to tour in April but I can't see that happening. Unfortunately, this Mumbai thing has triggered a political dimension."

India's sports minister, MS Gill, asked: "Is it possible for one team [the terrorists] to arrive in Mumbai and indulge in mass murder, and have another team go and play cricket in the winter afternoon sun at Lahore, immediately after?"

Having been ousted by the recently appointed regime, Naghmi - now working for the Pakistan government - also sees worrying trends from the new board including the ravaging of domestic programs designed to improve the skills of youngsters.

Another source said PCB chairman Ijaz Butt lacks the skills to handle the crisis. "I don't think he has the ability to develop the rapport with the Indian board," the source said. "It's your personal rapport with other boards that really counts - these relationships can transcend political issues. And Miandad keeps talking about formally recognising [the blacklisted Indian Cricket League tournament]. These things do not go down well with the BCCI."

Butt was appointed by Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari, whose government denies any knowledge of Ibrahim's whereabouts or link to the Mumbai attacks.

Pakistan, as a cricket destination, has already lost the faith of the west. To lose that of its subcontinental neighbour would be paralysing. TROUBLED TOURS OF PAKISTAN 2001 POSTPONED New Zealand, on the way to Pakistan for a tour, turn around at Singapore Airport and return home after hearing of the September 11 terror attacks in the US.

2002 CANCELLED The Kiwis agree to a tour - but on the morning of the second Test, a bomb explodes outside the team hotel in Karachi, killing 11 people. The team immediately returns home.

2002 RELOCATED Australia refuse to tour because of safety concerns and the series is moved to Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates.

2003 CANCELLED South Africa cancel a tour of Pakistan following another bombing in Karachi.

2005 England consider returning home after a bomb is detonated opposite a Karachi hotel they were booked to stay later in their tour. The team decides to stay and plays three Tests and five one-dayers.