IT was sad to see the Black Caps departing over some security concerns that were not even made public. Yet we must understand that a foreigner or a guest has every right to depart when their homeland requests them to do so.

Anyone following cricket since the 1990s will agree that of all the teams, the Black Caps are perhaps the nicest folks around the block in terms of competition, sledging, etc. We must be calm and patient, and not politicise the incident by pointing fingers and complicating matters.

The new Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman is right in encouraging the players to divert their focus and frustration towards the game and their performance at the upcoming T20 World Cup.

The last decade has revealed who has volunteered and stepped up to help Pakistan cricket get back on its feet. Call them friends and break bread with them, but do not blame those who did not. Be it a foreign lobby or outrageous standards set by some countries, let us not make competitors in cricket our unwanted enemies. Pakistan has always been an emotional country when it comes to cricket. It is so perhaps because it has always been greater than what it should be; just a sport, a very enjoyable sport, but a sport nonetheless. We should move on from here.

T20 and PSL franchises will always be secondary. Actions speak louder than words in the sporting arena and the frustration must be channelised through sport, and not debates. The players and the PCB should avoid social media war-mongering, and, instead, should focus on cricket. If we truly are cornered tigers, we will make it out through sportsmanship, and not verbal attacks and defamations.

Entertainment, revenue and politics will always follow cricket, not the other way round, which is why, sadly, Pakistan has rarely witnessed the days of the 1990s where our Test and ODI game was arguably among the best.

And what great sin has New Zealand committed? Many nations have simply moved away even at the prospect of touring Pakistan since 2009. If Pakistan and India have always called for friendly matches despite decades of hostile relations, then the current New Zealand decision must not cripple our confidence and sense of hospitality.

You cannot force someone to be your guest. Sadly it is in Pakistan where attacks and blasts have been reported recently with alarming frequency. It is Pakistan that still has to shut down entire cities to simply accommodate foreign cricket teams.

There is no doubt the Black Caps would have been accorded VVIP protocol and foolproof security, but, for now, we should give them the benefit of doubt and simply focus on cricket and not on the unhealthy politics stemming from it.

Let us not drown in a glass of water. Chase only what is necessary. We should not chase what doesn’t want us.

Dr Taimoor Khalid Janjua
Karachi

Published in Dawn, September 23rd, 2021