The war cries have gone beyond the political contours and three days of insanity threatened to rip cricket apart. By Rajarshi Gupta
The Indian government had been entangled in a tricky decision to make. Constant terror attacks had kept international teams from touring trouble-torn Pakistan. However, the Pakistan Cricket Board had some expectations from the BCCI.
Pakistani left-arm seamer Sohail Tanvir, who appeared for Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League, has irked the PCB for holding an unauthorised press conference in Islamabad last night, following which the Board is contemplating a disciplinary action against the left-arm fast bowler.
Tanvir had urged the Indian cricket team to tour Pakistan despite last week's Mumbai mayhem that killed nearly 200 people.
Recently Pakistani skipper Shoaib Malik had said that players from his country would still go and play in India, even if India did not come down to play. Understandable. It is not surprising why Malik and Tanveer would want to keep at least cricketing ties with India intact.
The consequences would be felt by the Pakistani players more than their Indian counterparts.
Pakistan are the only of the Test playing nations not to have played a Test in all of 2008 and were looking forward to India coming over to open the account after a year.
On the other side of the coin, India have not only been playing but winning at an alarmingly consistent rate.
After all, the two boards are the most influential in the Asian lobby. Both had stood by each other in tougher times. The Governments too, spoke of bettering relations between the two nations.
And then, the dark Wednesday night descended. MS Dhoni's men were in the process of crushing England in the fifth ODI in Cuttack on November 26, while terrorists went on a rampage in Maximum City.
After three days of mayhem and some sensational onslaught by India's top assault forces, nine terrorists had been killed and one arrested.
The aftermath had started rolling. Initial investigations and interrogations by Indian authorities revealed a Pakistani hand in the attacks. That was it.
India's tour of Pakistan was called off. The PCB started ranting again. Another chance gone. The Pakistanis had been expecting their neighbours to go and exhibit their rivetting brand of cricket in a land which has been starving to see quality on the greens.
The tour is off, alright and this time, perhaps rightly so. True, politics should never confront sports.
The PCB is under pressure from within, with certain sections forcing the board to severe cricketing ties with India and build up a strong stance.
Well, maybe these suggestions need to be logically looked at, with common sense. India can never become what Pakistan has. The Australian media jumped an entire artillery, saying India would soon become another "no-go zone", much like Pakistan. That can never happen.
India is where the game is blooming every minute. Here is where the team is charging towards greatness, here is where the money counts.
India and Pakistan have been involved in some cricketing folklore. But now the time has come to draw a line. There are more important things to consider than cricket. If the tour does not go ahead, it would hurt the Pakistanis in ways more than one.
What do you think of the article? Do write in with your thoughts to streettalk@espnstar.com.
The Indian government had been entangled in a tricky decision to make. Constant terror attacks had kept international teams from touring trouble-torn Pakistan. However, the Pakistan Cricket Board had some expectations from the BCCI.
Pakistani left-arm seamer Sohail Tanvir, who appeared for Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League, has irked the PCB for holding an unauthorised press conference in Islamabad last night, following which the Board is contemplating a disciplinary action against the left-arm fast bowler.
Tanvir had urged the Indian cricket team to tour Pakistan despite last week's Mumbai mayhem that killed nearly 200 people.
Recently Pakistani skipper Shoaib Malik had said that players from his country would still go and play in India, even if India did not come down to play. Understandable. It is not surprising why Malik and Tanveer would want to keep at least cricketing ties with India intact.
The consequences would be felt by the Pakistani players more than their Indian counterparts.
Pakistan are the only of the Test playing nations not to have played a Test in all of 2008 and were looking forward to India coming over to open the account after a year.
On the other side of the coin, India have not only been playing but winning at an alarmingly consistent rate.
After all, the two boards are the most influential in the Asian lobby. Both had stood by each other in tougher times. The Governments too, spoke of bettering relations between the two nations.
And then, the dark Wednesday night descended. MS Dhoni's men were in the process of crushing England in the fifth ODI in Cuttack on November 26, while terrorists went on a rampage in Maximum City.
After three days of mayhem and some sensational onslaught by India's top assault forces, nine terrorists had been killed and one arrested.
The aftermath had started rolling. Initial investigations and interrogations by Indian authorities revealed a Pakistani hand in the attacks. That was it.
India's tour of Pakistan was called off. The PCB started ranting again. Another chance gone. The Pakistanis had been expecting their neighbours to go and exhibit their rivetting brand of cricket in a land which has been starving to see quality on the greens.
The tour is off, alright and this time, perhaps rightly so. True, politics should never confront sports.
The PCB is under pressure from within, with certain sections forcing the board to severe cricketing ties with India and build up a strong stance.
Well, maybe these suggestions need to be logically looked at, with common sense. India can never become what Pakistan has. The Australian media jumped an entire artillery, saying India would soon become another "no-go zone", much like Pakistan. That can never happen.
India is where the game is blooming every minute. Here is where the team is charging towards greatness, here is where the money counts.
India and Pakistan have been involved in some cricketing folklore. But now the time has come to draw a line. There are more important things to consider than cricket. If the tour does not go ahead, it would hurt the Pakistanis in ways more than one.
What do you think of the article? Do write in with your thoughts to streettalk@espnstar.com.
