BCCI 'generously' agrees to play ODIs at Karachi, Peshawar
By Tanvir Ahmad
The way the Indian media was generating a hype about security concerns much before the visit of the Indian cricket team was formally confirmed
, made many in Pakistan apprehend that even if the tour materialized, Karachi and Peshawar could be removed from the itinerary.
The Indian board has, however, been "generous" to agree to play a one-dayer at Karachi which has probably served cricket more than any other city and has produced legends like the Mohammad brothers, Javed Miandad and a host of other Test cricketers during the last 50 years.
It was sheer disappointment for the thousands of cricket fans in this city of 12 million that there would be no Test match because "the Indian cricket board wants shorter stay for the team in Karachi and Peshawar".
Mr Ramiz Raja's argument that had the PCB insisted on holding a Test match in Karachi the Indians would have called off the tour is no better than a poor consolation and shows weakness on part of the PCB.
Or is it that Pakistan has no say in the comity of cricket-playing nations. The decisions about when and where a Test or a one-day match is to be played are taken in Kolkata rather than in Lahore. For this embarrassing situation no one but the PCB itself is to blame.
The PCB surrendered the prerogative of a host country to select venues and dates when it agreed to play in Sharjah and Colombo against Australia and the West Indies in 2002 when these two teams refused to come to Pakistan taking the same "security concern" plea.
Had the then PCB chairman taken a firm stand that the tours will be held on a bilateral basis and that Pakistan will not tour any ICC member country if that member refused to play in Pakistan, we would not have become some sort of "untouchable" among the cricketing nations.
Sri Lanka had been facing a civil war like situation for more than two decades now. Bomb blasts and attacks by the Tamil Tigers have been going on for years.
If we in Pakistan are facing the scourge of terrorism so are the Sri Lankans. But Australia is playing a full series there now while they had refused to come to Pakistan only 16 months ago.
Pakistan has always played in India despite the incidents of pitch-digging, hooliganism by fanatic elements and bomb blasts in Mumbai. The Pakistan board or for that matter our government never sent a "security team" to India to see security arrangements at various venues.
Pakistan has never refused to play in any Indian city, including Mumbai, where they were threatened by the VHP and RSS leaders of "serious consequences" more than once.
In Kolkata, the entire Eden Garden Stadium had to be vacated after the crowd resorted to violence during an Asian Test Championship match between Pakistan and India but Pakistan still played the match.
Are there double standards or is it that the PCB has become so apologetic that it cannot even protest that the tour itinerary which is the host country's prerogative is announced by Mr Jagmohan Dalmiya in Kolkata before the chief executive of PCB in Lahore, who later on simply endorses the same.
This is because the previous PCB management more than once surrendered what was its right as an equal member of the ICC; that all tours are to be made on a reciprocal basis and if any member tries to wriggle out on any prtext, the ICC must take action and that Pakistan should be financially compensated for the losses it suffered during the "off-shore series" against Australia and West Indies.
What would have been the worst possible scenario if the PCB had refused to accept the BCCI's demand of "shorter stay" in Karachi and Peshawar. Let us for a moment accept Ramiz Raja's logic: the Indians would have refused to come to Pakistan.
Heavens would not have fallen. On the contrary, the Indian board and the team would have embarrassed their political leadership, including Mr Vajpayee, who had intervened at a time when the tour was on the verge of being cancelled.
The reason: For Mr Vajpayee more important issues were at stake and he would not have seen all his efforts of reconciliation between the two countries go waste by a bunch of short-sighted people. The PCB only had to play its cards more cleverly which it did not. Not now but since it decided to accept the security bogey after 2001.
