The Mumbai terror attacks have caste a shadow on cricket but with international support it will definitely find its place sooner.
By Rohit Sakunia
Go back six months and cricket in India was booming, the IPL was in full flow and an English game had revolutionised itself in its new home. Packed stadia and a plethora of domestic and international players had a feast for a just reward.
The scenario has changed in the last six months and how! Stock markets have crashe and the bottom is still not clear, jobs are being cut on all nook and corner and with all this comes the difficulty of running an expensive game. But was this so difficult, no and the reason was simple that cricket being a religion in this country always had visibility and companies were always ready to shed that extra dollar to sponsor anything even distantly related to the game and champions league was the most expensive tournament in the history of the game and being associated with it was in itself an opportunity to gather eyeballs.
But this time something different struck, something which was far more destructive than the stock market, something which India has been witness to since the last 60 odd years and this time it came with a package we Indians will never be able to forget, at least this generation. The country's most expensive city's most expensive area was kind of hijacked for three days and the entire country was witness to a deadly game.
The impact was so deadly that international community was the first to bid goodbye. The English team reeling 5-0 in the ODI series were devastated by TV visuals and were the first to cancel their tour in the middle. Probably they were right since when you know that the potential target of this attack were foreigners especially Britons and the US citizens, cricketers are wise enough to understand that they would be favourites to be hit and imagine the situation of the captain since he would be the most favourite prey for these carnivorous blood hungry animals.
The second victim was Champions League. But here I thought that the decision could have been taken after a bit of consideration. The league was still a week away and tourney could have been played somewhere else. I truly understand the concern of all touring players but when Ashes can be played two weeks after blasts rocked London, same can happen in India and we are capable enough to provide security good enough, impossible to breach.
What this would have done is, it would have allowed people in India and Mumbai recover much faster than the time it would take now. The cancellations and postponement would only send signals that something is wrong in this country and that we are still not hundred percent sure of the security apparatus.
Another very wrong thing which is coming out in media across cricketing fraternity is India being equated with Pakistan and Sri Lanka on terror fronts and in list of countries not very safe to travel and play, but these writers need to understand that their cricketers are the first to accept multimillion offers made during IPL so there is no point leaving the same country in crisis. An attitude of gratitude always helps.
England have shown great sense of camaraderie and spirit by agreeing to come back for the Test series and the Indian board has also shown very good flexibility by changing venues and placing matches at places least prone to such attacks. It would be great on part of other boards if they also show similar resilience since that would be a slap on people who thought they succeeded by such dastardly acts and it would also be good for a country that has the potential to make cricket a global game.
Champions League as I am hearing is also being spoken of being played sooner than later. This augurs well for the game and sends a distinct signal to the perpetrators of the gruesome crime that India's spirit is unflappable and their cowardly acts of killing innocent people would not deter a show by more than a delay.
The show has to go on and this ghastly crime has only strengthened the country's resolve of not allowing the terrorists to even dare think they have had even an inch of victory.
By Rohit Sakunia
Go back six months and cricket in India was booming, the IPL was in full flow and an English game had revolutionised itself in its new home. Packed stadia and a plethora of domestic and international players had a feast for a just reward.
The scenario has changed in the last six months and how! Stock markets have crashe and the bottom is still not clear, jobs are being cut on all nook and corner and with all this comes the difficulty of running an expensive game. But was this so difficult, no and the reason was simple that cricket being a religion in this country always had visibility and companies were always ready to shed that extra dollar to sponsor anything even distantly related to the game and champions league was the most expensive tournament in the history of the game and being associated with it was in itself an opportunity to gather eyeballs.
But this time something different struck, something which was far more destructive than the stock market, something which India has been witness to since the last 60 odd years and this time it came with a package we Indians will never be able to forget, at least this generation. The country's most expensive city's most expensive area was kind of hijacked for three days and the entire country was witness to a deadly game.
The impact was so deadly that international community was the first to bid goodbye. The English team reeling 5-0 in the ODI series were devastated by TV visuals and were the first to cancel their tour in the middle. Probably they were right since when you know that the potential target of this attack were foreigners especially Britons and the US citizens, cricketers are wise enough to understand that they would be favourites to be hit and imagine the situation of the captain since he would be the most favourite prey for these carnivorous blood hungry animals.
The second victim was Champions League. But here I thought that the decision could have been taken after a bit of consideration. The league was still a week away and tourney could have been played somewhere else. I truly understand the concern of all touring players but when Ashes can be played two weeks after blasts rocked London, same can happen in India and we are capable enough to provide security good enough, impossible to breach.
What this would have done is, it would have allowed people in India and Mumbai recover much faster than the time it would take now. The cancellations and postponement would only send signals that something is wrong in this country and that we are still not hundred percent sure of the security apparatus.
Another very wrong thing which is coming out in media across cricketing fraternity is India being equated with Pakistan and Sri Lanka on terror fronts and in list of countries not very safe to travel and play, but these writers need to understand that their cricketers are the first to accept multimillion offers made during IPL so there is no point leaving the same country in crisis. An attitude of gratitude always helps.
England have shown great sense of camaraderie and spirit by agreeing to come back for the Test series and the Indian board has also shown very good flexibility by changing venues and placing matches at places least prone to such attacks. It would be great on part of other boards if they also show similar resilience since that would be a slap on people who thought they succeeded by such dastardly acts and it would also be good for a country that has the potential to make cricket a global game.
Champions League as I am hearing is also being spoken of being played sooner than later. This augurs well for the game and sends a distinct signal to the perpetrators of the gruesome crime that India's spirit is unflappable and their cowardly acts of killing innocent people would not deter a show by more than a delay.
The show has to go on and this ghastly crime has only strengthened the country's resolve of not allowing the terrorists to even dare think they have had even an inch of victory.
