When Imran Khan recently made an irascible comment that India must tour Pakistan because the terrorists would never attack cricketers, the question that was bubbling forth was – did the terrorists sign a Memorandum of Understanding that the rest of the world was not aware of?
To even entertain a comment like this, even if it is coming from one of cricket’s finest talents and a political leader in Pakistan, is absurdity. The clear and present dangers were not lost on countries such as Australia, New Zealand, England and South Africa when they decided to trust not Imran Khan’s words but those of a security advisor, a man whose names is perhaps in the annals of cricketing history themselves, Reg Dickason. The Champions Trophy was scrapped and even the Asian countries decided to stand against an alternative venue.
Now even as hardliners are taking uncompromising stands, cricket, like the two countries, is standing perilously close to seeing dark days yet again. Rashid Latif suggests that should India decide not to tour Pakistan, Pakistan cricketers must boycott all forms of cricket emanating from India, namely, the ICL and the IPL. The anger is understandable given that the Asian bloc, until recently favoured touring Pakistan which led to the Asia Cup mid year through. But since then, deferring the Champions Trophy has really scarred Pakistan’s chances of hosting a bilateral cricket series any time soon. If India too decides to follow the line of other western countries, Pakistan is well aware that it would plunge its chances even further.
But boycotting cricket is not such an easy task. Cricketers tend to earn sizeable pockets of money from these tournaments and the reason why these tournaments flourish is because of the mass of people in the sub continent that have shown an insatiable appetite for the game. With cricket’s commercial hub in India, just like Mumbai has been for India, the decision for the ICC and the other boards has become more complex when compared simultaneously to that in Pakistan.
There has been far too much political instability in addition to the constant terror threat in Pakistan that players across countries have repeatedly expressed concerns about touring the regions which has also led to a dearth of cricketing activity in Pakistan. In India, however, the political situation is far more different and while the dangers of terrors have been exposed, they have been proved to be almost on par with any other region around the world, whether it is the USA or the UK.
While the jolts of the attack on Mumbai will be felt as it is still fresh in the mind, it is far less likely that teams will think as much in the future as they have been caught doing when it comes to Pakistan. The relative stability in the region added to the fact that India has become the centre of earning a handsome cricket livelihood will combine to ensure that India does not go the way of Pakistan.
For Pakistan, the threat is visibly more heightened as they government adopts a hardline approach, an unyielding one that threatens to plunge not just cricket, but fraternal relations, between both countries.
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