Onus on Pakistan to take the strike and score
It is amazing that the Board of Control for Cricket in India should even be interacting with its Pakistani counterpart on the prospect of resuming cricketing ties between the two countries, at a time when sentiments are high in this country against repeated instances of Pakistan-linked terror directed at India. Many senior members of the BCCI and highly respected former cricketers too believe that the environment is not conducive for the resumption of cricket matches between the two nations. Newly elected president of Cricket Association of Bengal and former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly has stated, “I think the BCCI is correct in saying that terror will have to completely go before play could happen.” Another influential voice and cricketing legend Sunil Gavaskar too has expressed similar opinion.
Indeed, if the BCCI's official position is what Mr Ganguly says, then there was no point for board president Shashank Manohar to have planned a meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Shahryar Khan at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai on Monday. The BCCI can argue that it was only a courtesy call that Mr Khan was supposed to make to the newly appointment Indian board president. But the message that had gone out prior to the meeting was that the two were to discuss the resumption of cricketing ties, and nothing was done to quell that impression. Of course, everyone knows that the cricket boards of the two countries cannot by themselves take a final call; that has to be done by the respective Governments.
But even the Indian Government's position has been crystal clear: Cricket and terror cannot go together. The proposed meeting between Mr Khan and Mr Manohar, therefore, was a no-go from the very beginning. It must be kept in mind that the Pakistan Cricket Board is extremely eager to re-establish cricket between the two countries, because that is one sure way out for the monetarily bleeding PCB to make money. India-Pakistan matches invariably draw huge revenues. Ever since the attack on the visiting Sri lankan cricketers in Pakistan in 2009, few teams have shown a desire to play matches in Pakistan, resulting in a huge setback to the PCB. The PCB will not, naturally, admit to its desperation. Mr Khan had prior to his India visit said that Pakistan would not “beg” with India for the resumption of cricketing ties. So, why was he hereIJ
It is being argued that cricketing ties will help create favourable conditions for the two countries to ramp up their political and diplomatic engagements. This is nonsense, as we have learned from the past. Moreover, we have also witnessed the offensive aggression that some Pakistani cricketers show on the field when they are pitted against an Indian side — an aggression that goes beyond the call of sport. In fact, some of these players behave as if they are the representatives of their Army against India! (Their conduct is unlike that of, say, Pakistani ghazal maestro Ghulam Ali, who talks of peace and brotherhood through music.) However, this much must be said: Much as it is inadvisable to have cricketing relations with Pakistan at this stage, the hooliganism that the Shiv Sena resorted to, by barging into the BCCI headquarters and virtually laying siege on Mr Manohar, is condemnable.