February 22, 2004

AFTER all the drama and confusion that had the better of everyone in the last few days, it was a matter of much relief when Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee personally intervened and cleared the air. Cricket lovers on both sides of the border, and indeed the world over, owe Mr Vajpyee a great deal of gratitude for giving a clear go ahead to the scheduled tour.

No doubt, there are naysayers who would argue that the confusion was more in the nature of political feelers, and it was only after the feelers invoked a largely negative response that the Indian premier decided to take the moral high ground and snub all the rumours. All I can say to such skeptics is that even if their brainwave happens to be the reality, Mr Vajpayee still deserves a pat on the back for having given due weight to public opinion.

So, then, the Indian tour is finally on, and the fans can now look forward to a feast of cricket over the next five, six weeks on a magnitude that we, in Pakistan, have not seen for some time. It is a cliche to say that Ashes pale into insignificance when put to test against a Pakistan-India series, but that is a cliche worth repeating for that happens to be the ground reality. For all practical purposes, the dominance of Australia over England has taken the steam out of the Ashes. Things have come to a pass where all the pre-Ashes talk revolves around the possible margin of Australian victory.

In the context of Pakistan and India, the rivalry is very much alive. In fact, it has only gained intensity over the years and has always brought out the best from among the players that has enriched the game and provided quality cricket for the connoisseurs of the game. In a perverse way, long periods of cricketing inactivity during the two nations have only added to the excitement whenever they come face to face on the filed of play. This may sound a little odd, but give it a thought and you would begin to see what I mean.

Now, getting ready for what is perhaps the third revival of cricketing ties, the two teams, and, indeed, the two countries, are taking every step with due — and sometime undue — caution. I say undue because the I sometime find the element of security threat being blown out of proportion. The Indians have every right to be sure of what is in store for them, and the delegation sent by the Indian government to assess the security situation was a legitimate step. Once the delegation has given a clean bill of health, I find absolutely no reason for anyone to doubt the assurances placed by the government of Pakistan regarding the security and safety of the visitors.

I feel sad at the rather unnecessary fuss being created over the visitors’ stay in Karachi and Peshawar. This is like going with the general flow of things, like arguing that if team X didn’t play there, we will also not play regardless of what the ground reality is. This, to me, is a negative approach.

I was delighted when I read in the papers that players like Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar have publicly announced their availability for the tour. After Mr Vajpayee’s wonderful initial announcement which saved the tour, this was another rational decision by Indian individuals regarding the resumption of cricketing ties. My hope is that the Indians will make it three in a row by agreeing to play in at least Karachi, if not both at Karachi and Peshawar.

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