Though the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is being praised for keeping the series with India alive, the fact is that it is the monetary gains, which prevailed over the people's interests, especially that of the fans of Pakistan's biggest city Karachi. The way Karachi and Peshawar were omitted from the Test match itinerary has opened the Pandora's box.
Many question the wisdom and foresightedness of PCB Chairman Shaharyar M Khan and Chief Executive Rameez Raja as to what went wrong at the PCB and what was the logic in surrendering its prerogative to select the venues of the matches.
In the sporting world, including cricket, it is the prerogative of the host country to finalise the venues, keeping in view the interests of the crowd at that particular place.
Amazingly, the PCB has set an example of surrendering its right to host and organise the matches of its own choice.
The PCB hierarchy is happy that the Indians have agreed to play one-dayers in Karachi and Peshawar, the decision was described nothing but eyewash to appease the cricket fans in Karachi and Peshawar.
The PCB adopted the policy to appease the foreign teams in January 2002 when the then PCB Chairman, Lt-Gen Tauqir Zia (retd), agreed to organise the home series against West Indies in Sharjah. It may be mentioned here that the West 1ndies have almost omitted Pakistan from their future tour programmes, prepared by no less an authority than the International Cricket Council (ICC).
This decision of the PCB encouraged the teams like South Africa and New Zealand to dictate terms to the PCB, which obliged them, and excluded Karachi and Peshawar from the tour format.
And now the Indians, who are scheduled to arrive in the country on March 10, have exploited the weakness of the PCB and refused to play Test matches in the two provincial capitals, raising the bogey of security of players.
The PCB's leniency to the foreign cricket boards indicates Pakistan's place in the eyes of the cricket-playing nations. Making hue and cry about the law and order situation and security of players is nothing but sheer absurdity, as no city in the world is crime-free.
There are many examples when the Pakistani players were hooted and even stoned, but Pakistan never threatened to call off the tour or cancel the match.
One may recall that during a One-day International (ODI) against New Zealand at Eden Park, Auckland in l993, some one from the crowd threw a plastic bottle at Pakistan fast bowler Ata-ur-Rehman, who was fielding at the boundary.
Ata~ur~Rehman got injured and the match was suspended for a short period, but Pakistan team management did not cancel the match and resumed the play after a short brief.
Booing and jeering of the players and throwing of plastic bottles and small stones are part of the game. Incidents of such small natures do not justify cancellation or calling off the tour.
The Ashes series between Australia and England and matches even in England, West Indies are glaring examples of such incidents. Soccer matches in Europe and America are the worst examples of the unruly behaviour of the crowd and there are instances when bloody clashes, leading some times to deaths of spectators, but the matches were never abandoned.
As compared to the Pakistan crowd, which is considered most disciplined in the world, the Indian crowds, especially in Kanpur, Ahmedabad, New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Bangalore have crossed all limits of decency.
Foreign teams, especially Pakistan, at these centres never felt comfortable, but did not threaten to cancel the match or call of the tour.
VAJPAYEE'S ASSERTIONS: Though Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has reiterated that the Indian cricket team will play wherever they are asked to in Pakistan, certain elements in India, especially in the media, are out to sabotage the long-awaited tour.
Vajpayee said in clear terms that the atmosphere for resumption of sporting links between India and Pakistan was conducive, and called for maintaining this environment. "Our cricketers are going there. There is debate whether they should play in Karachi or not. We told them that Pakistan had to make the arrangements. Our players will play wherever they are asked to," said Vajpayee.
Contrary to Vajpayee's assertions, there are elements in India, who are putting the cart before the horse, and are raising silly questions the answer to which cannot be given by any cricket board in the world.
Ignoring the fact that the series would help strengthen the relations between the two countries, radical elements in India do not see the series as a game.
Even the elements in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said that in case of any untoward incident, the tour would be cut down and the team would return without completing its schedule.
Highly influenced by the radicals and extremists Hindu fanatics, the BCCI officials referred to a clause in the agreement signed between the two boards, saying that "if any kind of violence against the Indian team was carried on by the spectators, the Indian cricket team would leave its tour incomplete and return to the home country. Under such circumstances, the BCCI, will not be compelled to pay any compensation to the Pakistani Board," they said.
Such threats reflect the mentality of the Indian leaders and indicate how much the man like Jagmohan Dalmiya, BCCI President, was influenced by the rhetorics of such elements, who are opposed to even sporting ties between the two countries.
PCB REACTION: The PCB, which so far has obliged the BCCI and acceded to its demand for exclusion of Karachi and Peshawar from the Test match itinerary, has reacted sharply, declaring that the crowd reactions are common in cricket and the BCCI or Indian players cannot call off the tour unilaterally.
PCB Chairman Shaharyar Khan, dispelling the fears that the forthcoming Indian cricket tour could be called off due to minor crowd disturbances such as stone or bottle throwing, said at a press conference: "One stone can't call off the tour and the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed say that both the boards will take into account the seriousness of any incident."
Khan said: "It's a qualitative series (and) has lots of political implications and repercussions at the highest level of the governments," and added that surveillance cameras would be used to identify troublemakers.
Everywhere in the cricket world, especially in Pakistan and India, emotions run high when the two teams meet. While majority of the people enjoy the game and appreciate the performance of their heroes in action, the presence of "hooters" cannot be ignored.
DICTATIONS: Over the years, Pakistan cricket authorities have been continuing the policy of getting dictations from non-Asian cricket boards like England, Australia, New Zealand and West India regarding the itineraries of their tours to this part of the world on one reason or the other.
India were the first country to refuse to play Pakistan in Pakistan some 15 years ago. Although they last met Pakistan in Sharjah in March 2000, they refused to participate in Sharjah Tournaments on the pretext of discriminatory attitude by the officials of the Cricketers Benefit Fund Series (CBFS) and charges of betting and match-fixing. This was followed by refusal to play in Sahara Cup in Canada.
In 1998, India, in violation of the schedule of the International Cricket Council (ICC), refused to play in Pakistan. Since the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was pursuing the ICC to pressurise the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to follow the ICC schedule, but it failed to convince India.
India last met Pakistan in a match of 2003 World Cup in South Africa.
Now the Indians are to visit Pakistan after 15 years. Credit, however, goes to the former PCB Chairman, Lt-Gen. Tauqir Zia (retd), who has tried hard for the restoration of cricket ties between the two countries. Despite being a soldier, Tauqir Zia had emerged successful in his cricket diplomacy and when the ice was about to break, he had to quit the PCB.
Career diplomat Shaharyar M. Khan, who started from where Tauqir Zia left, succeeded him.
GREEN SIGNAL: Following a green signal by the Indian government, the BCCI agreed to send the cricket team to Pakistan with the condition of not playing Test matches in Karachi and Peshawar on security reasons.
Though Shaharyar Khan may be good at handling the political issue, he has miserably failed in cricket diplomacy and could not convince his counterpart in the BCCI that the local administrations in Karachi and Peshawar had made foolproof security arrangements and there was no security problem in the two provincial capitals.
In an effort to woo the cricket fans in Karachi and Peshawar, he expressed his happiness that India would be playing One-day Internationals (ODI) in Karachi and Peshawar and that too during day.
Amazingly, he argued that since he himself was a Karachiite and wanted the Indians to play Test match in Karachi, he had to concede to the BCCI demand for exclusion of Karachi and Peshawar in the national interest. As such the cricket fans of the two cities should not make it a regional or provincial issue, rather take it as a national event.
Though he is, to some extent, correct in his argument, one may, however, question for how long the PCB will succumb to the pressures of the non-Asian and even Indian teams not play in Karachi or to agree to play at neutral grounds like Sharjah.
1996 WORLD CUP MATCHES: One may recall 1996 when Karachi faced its worst ever law and situation, the World Cup matches were played at National Stadium. At that time no team refused to play in Karachi.
The recently-concluded South Africa and New Zealand tours and now Indians visit make the cricket fans believe that on the one hand, cricket enthusiasts are being deprived of their right to see their heroes in action, and other, efforts are being by the foreign teams to isolate Pakistan in the comity of cricket-playing nations.
Though the rules of the International Cricket Council (ICC) call for "penalising" the members not following the ICC calendar of tours, it has so far failed to get its rules implemented in letter and spirit. One hopes the PCB will pursue the authorities in the game's highest authority in the world to ask its members to follow its schedule of tours.
The less said the better, but the fact is that be it Tauqir Zia or Shaharyar Khan, both have failed in their cricket diplomacy.
And finally one may ask the PCB higher ups will they dare dictate their terms on any foreign cricket board or refuse to play before the notorious crowds of Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi, Kanpur and Ahmedabad.
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