Captain Kevin Pietersen admitted that his players will be "diving into the unknown" when they leave England today.

The situation in India remains so volatile that airports are on a state of high alert following warnings that there may be hijackings.

Coach Peter Moores said he can only hope they put on a "decent show" if the First Test goes ahead as scheduled next Thursday because they have not played the five-day version of the game for three months.

So, should England be travelling back to the subcontinent to put themselves at potential risk in a two-match series that they will in all probability lose?

The answer has to be "yes".

If England fail to tour then the terrorists will have succeeded in their primary aim which is to disrupt normal life. And, as anyone knows who has visited India, there is nothing more normal - or joyful - than playing and watching cricket so far as the people of that vast country are concerned.

If England do not tour then other teams will surely take their lead from Pietersen's team. Pakistan is already a no-go area so far as most of the cricket world is concerned, visiting sides have fled Sri Lanka in the past because of bombs and bullets and it would be a tragedy for India to be added to the list of places not to tour.

The bottom line, of course, has to be the one concerning safety. If there is any doubt that safety plans are insufficient, or cannot be implemented, then the tour must be cancelled.

Pietersen agreed that the future of the world game was "definitely at the back of my mind" when he weighed up whether or not he and his players should consider returning to India.

Then, quite rightly, he stressed: "But safety and security is paramount, that's the most important thing."

Asked why the team had, collectively, agreed to travel to Abu Dhabi today when it seemed, last weekend, that they would be staying at home, Pietersen said: "I think everyone has become a lot more open-minded, spoken to family members which has been very important and realised it is pretty huge to go back to India in their time of need.

"To get the opportunity to go back there and to make a stance is pretty good.

"We are fortunate to have a great bunch of lads who want to jump on a plane to Abu Dhabi. I'm very confident that if everything goes according to plan over the next couple of days we will have a full squad to pick from."

Whatever happens over the next few days, and regardless of results if the Test series goes ahead, Pietersen will have learnt that there is a lot more to leadership than spinning a coin and making a few bowling changes.

He said: "This last five weeks have been fairly interesting but I'm a pretty positive person, I try not to let anything get me down and I think it's a positive move what we are doing here."

And he is right even though the cards are stacked heavily against his team.

Pietersen's men will spend the next three days practising in the different conditions of Abu Dhabi and not transfer to India until Monday.

What would have been slim hopes of beating their hosts - even with a perfect build-up - now look almost invisibly slender.

England's players can also expect to spend the next fortnight effectively living in a military camp - accompanied by commandos everywhere except out onto the cricket field.

But Pietersen, at least, is in no doubt that the whole squad should go once they get the green light from the ECB's security team.

He added: "I just feel really proud of being captain of such a great bunch of guys - guys who want to play for their country and play for the badge, and also try to make amends for the 5-0 defeat we suffered a few weeks ago in India.

"The guys just want to play cricket. They are hurt from what happened in Antigua (being thrashed in the Stanford $20million match) and the 5-0 in one-dayers. It's a huge stance by this England team to jump on a plane and go and do the business."

By stressing over and over again today that his 'guys' just want to play cricket Pietersen has taken an admirable stance.

It is one that will be repaid tenfold when they arrive in a country whose own players have been rocked by the massacre in Mumbai.

The reality is that if the two teams meet, it won't matter who comes out on top. Cricket will be the winner.