India Should Play Pakistan
By Gaurang
December 17 2015
Recently the Cricket Boards of Pakistan and India have engaged in an on again, off again series of pronouncements regarding whether or not India will play Pakistan in a bilateral series. It is clear that both boards are salivating at the prospect of an economic bonanza if such a series is played, be it in UAE, Sri Lanka or even England as some have suggested. But I am of the opinion that India should play Pakistan, but only when it is safe for all teams to play in Pakistan.
The ICC and some in the Western media such as on cricinfo have been egging India to play against Pakistan in Pakistan’s semi-permanent home away from home in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This is incredibly hypocritical and also misses the bigger issue.
It is richly hypocritical that England or Australia, among others have not played in Zimbabwe in bilateral series for a much longer time than India hasn’t played in Pakistan. So why is it OK for England and Australia to mix “politics” with cricket because they detest the regime of Robert Mugabe, who may have nationalized a few British owned businesses and seized farmland belonging to white farmers, but it is not OK for India to take a principled stand that until Pakistan addresses terrorist entities within its boundaries that plotted and carried out murderous attacks against India, India will not play cricket against them?
The Hypocrisy extends to ex-Pakistani players and officials too. Recently we saw on Indian TV the ex-Pakistan cricket captain, turned politician, Imran Khan saying that stopping cricket was not the right thing to do. I understand where Imran is coming from. The India versus Pakistan contest makes any other bilateral cricket contest in the world seem positively bush league, especially in terms of the viewership, passion and profit it generates.
He is of course correct in saying that both nations have much in common in terms of language, culture, passion for the sport, etc. and when he brought up the old cliché about how cricket could be part of confidence building measures, and creating "aman ka mahaul" one almost felt nostalgic about the visit to Pakistan back in 2003 under Sourav Ganguly and Co. But then he stopped short of saying that Pakistan would take swift and credible action against Hafeez Saeed and others who masterminded the 26/11 terrorist attack on Mumbai. Sure he made vague noises about fighting terrorism, and pointed out that Pakistan has faced some pretty serious terrorist attacks itself, such as the school massacre in Peshawar last year. However, when pushed to be specific by Rajdeep Sardesai who was moderating the discussion as to what actions Pakistan would take he couldn’t give a straight answer. So unlike his no nonsense approach on the cricket field he sounded like a typical fudging and dodging politician.
Those who are blaming the BCCI and the Indian government for not playing against Pakistan are also missing bigger issue at stake. They are not asking why Pakistan and also Afghanistan cannot host international cricket matches? The reason is obviously because it is just too unsafe for visiting teams and their fans to visit those countries due to the threat of radical Islamic terror. The Sri Lankans were actual victims of it, when back in 2009 their tour bus was attacked and several players faced career altering injuries. Sri Lanka were playing in Pakistan in 2009 after India understandably cancelled it’s tour in the wake of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. Despite matches played in empty stadiums with the visiting team given Z level or the highest level security in a one-off series a local terror outfit was able to carry out the attack. Pakistan now plays ALL its “home” games in the UAE. Until the environment in Pakistan improves to the point where all terror groups, not just some, are dismantled and the security of visiting teams and their fans can be guaranteed, the demand that India play Pakistan in a bilateral series, completely misses the point.
Let India play Pakistan in a bilateral home series… but make sure that the series is actually at HOME i.e. in Pakistan. It is something that Indian fans should support. But until that can happen critics of India’s policy need to pressurize Pakistan to do the right thing while supporting India’s stance. That is the best thing that the world can demand and the best thing for Pakistani cricket and her cricket fans.
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016:02:19:17:32:26 by Birbal.
Maybe it is time to tell Pakistan support for TERRORISM has to go.
That is the fundamental problem that needs to be confronted....
allowing the issue to be ignored by designating UAE or Noida as "Home" is doing a disservice to Pakistani and Afghani players in the long run.
One hopes not. At least in Bangladesh the State is NOT the supporter of terror unlike in Pakistan.
Quote:Birbal
Pakistan forced bcci to move match from dharmsala to Kolkata. Rich coming from country where no team feels safe to play.
Guess which place is the EXILE HOME of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and which place is the home of communists? Maybe Chinese hand behind the "Pakistani" request?....
Anyway this article is bumped up in light of recent India Surgical Strikes on terrorist camps in PoK and the contradictory, confused, and cowardly response of the Pakistani establishment.
Though this is a tragedy for the players and Pakistani fans... it is the right thing for India and actually for the World Game...
Just like isolating SA during the time of Apartheid was the right thing to do until SA dismantled that evil system.
If anyone can, it is Imran... so good luck to him
So roadblock right there.
But I hope for the best.
Read some where that Pak has about $18 Billion in foreign exchange reserves... India has close to half a TRILLION...
One has become a international economic basket case... dependent on USA, IMF and China for its subsistence... other is making rapid economic strides where Govt. is announcing Health Insurance for ALL...
If Pak can come out of the control of Army and ISI.. which has done nothing for ordinary pooor Pakistanis except start and lose 4 wars with India and lose half the country (Bangladesh) it can start flourishing... but if it stays under that influence... it is doomed.