Time for arm twisting tactics. And the game of tit for tat. There are more than a few things at stake here. Perhaps that is why BCCI is also quick to admonish its players from speaking about their reservations even as Pakistan is hoping to corner it.
Pakistan is trying to use all means and manner possible to ensure they get at least India to tour Pakistan. Pakistan have gone through a dry spell at home and not to have their own neighbour, no matter how bitter a rivalry they share, would be akin to death knell for them, or so they think.
First, Pakistan has extended open arms. Now they have decided to put pressure on the bilateral relations, not illegal but also, something they seem to perceive will have to be used if they are denied this opportunity to revive cricket in Pakistan. Shoaib Mallik is willing to play the role of the mediator and try and persuade his cricketing counterparts in the Indian dressing room to make the trip during the Champions League Twenty20. But it will not be as simple as that. Touring Pakistan for the Asia Cup was one thing. The dissension grew enormously since then with the continuing bomb blasts and the eventual postponement of the Champions Trophy.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) are playing a delicate card. On the one hand, Javed Miandad, one of many voices in Pakistan, is saying there is pressure by the people to bring back the ICL affiliated players back into the main fold. In that, he is rolling the dice for the PCB as director general. The indications are clear. If the BCCI keeps its commitment to send the Indian team to Pakistan, the PCB will feel compelled to comply by the BCCI and IPL diktat that maintains ban on the ICL players. However, should the BCCI, which is passing the proverbial buck to the Indian government for clearance, should renege on it, the PCB is in a stronger position to defy the BCCI orders.
The BCCI had already shot off a letter to the ICC over the happiness over Sri Lanka allowing five of its ICL players to play in a domestic tournament. The ECB and the Professional Cricketers Association (PCA) are once again raking the issue of countering the BCCI stringency to not recognize the ICL. Pakistan’s defiance will be one more voice.
So, while a prominent news channel has got a few Indian players to admit that they are concerned about the possibility of touring Pakistan in the heightened midst of security concerns and that they are not buying comments such as the one made by Imran Khan that terrorists would not target cricketers, the BCCI has quickly taken stock with Rajiv Shukla stating that players could only have valid reasons if and when they actually made the squad to Pakistan.
Fire on ice?
The chairman of the PCB, Ejaz Butt, has been vocal about cheering on the Lahore Badshahs/ICL Pakistan team. But cheering is one thing; campaigning to bring back is another. So much is at stake.
Is this only cricket? Absolutely not.
