Will there be an end to the impasse?
Where India-Pakistan encounters are concerned, uncertainty remains the name of the game till the last moment
Partab Ramchand
09-Aug-2000
Where India-Pakistan encounters are concerned, uncertainty remains the
name of the game till the last moment. Given the peculiar background
to these contests, nothing can be taken for granted until the two
teams take the field. It is not enough if the two boards select the
team or if the governments give the clearance. Something untoward can
still take place even after all this.
One's mind goes back to January 1999. The government clearance had been obtained, the Indian team was picked and the Pakistan side were on the verge of leaving for the tour. Shiv Sena activists tactically picked this time to put a spoke in the wheel by digging up the pitch at the Ferozeshah Kotla in New
Delhi and making it clear that the Pakistan team was not welcome.
Suddenly the tour was in doubt all over again - and it is worth
recalling that this was the first tour by either country in almost a
decade and the first visit by Pakistan for 12 years. Ultimately,
having committed themselves to the tour, the Indian government decided
that the Pakistan team would land in the country and go ahead with the
matches but at a price - the security was unprecedented.
The scenario is not very different now. The Sahara Cup five match
series is scheduled to commence in Toronto from September 9. With only
a month left, normally the squad - or at least the probables - would
have been announced as also the venue for the camp. But for the Sahara
Cup, we have already had the selection of the team postponed once. Now
comes the announcement from Indian Cricket Board secretary JY Lele
that the team will be selected at Bangalore on August 19. The working
committee of the Board is also scheduled to meet on August 20 to take
a final decision on the new code of conduct.
So does that mean that one can assume that the long awaited government
clearance for the trip to Toronto has been obtained? Don't bet on it.
``Let us not talk about the government clearance now,'' said Lele when
pressed on the issue. ``The BCCI president (AC Muthiah) has asked me
to convene a meeting to pick the team for the Sahara Cup and it has
been fixed on August 19 at Bangalore in consultation with selection
committee chairman Chandu Borde,'' he said.
According to reports, the fact that the board has convened the
selection committee meeting could mean that the government has given
its consent. But Sports Minister SS Dhindsa seemed to put a spanner in
the works by making it clear that the government would not be hustled
into taking a decision on the matter.
``With Pakistan continuing to cause the deaths of innocent people in
Kashmir, any India-Pakistan series ceased to be just a sporting
encounter in the minds of our people. This is a sensitive issue and we
have to take the emotions too of our countrymen while taking a
decision,'' Dhindsa told a news agency in New Delhi on Tuesday.
There is no such problem with Pakistan. The Director (Operations) of
the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Yawar Saeed has said that the board
would be willing to send its team to Toronto even if the Indian
Government fails to send its team. He said he had been informed by
Indian Cricket Board officials that a decision regarding the Toronto
series would be taken by August 19. But he clarified that even if
India fails to turn up, then Pakistan was ready to play any opposition
since it was bound by a five year contract with the IMG. He said that
like last year if India refuses to play Pakistan, the organisors would
arrange for a third team and reiterated that the PCB would fulfil its
commitment to play in Canada.
When Dhindsa's attention was drawn to this, he said ``they can do what
they want. We will do only what is in our national interest. We can't
be hustled into taking a decision.'' It is interesting to note that
last year, in the wake of the Kargil crisis, India made the trip to
Toronto but did not play Pakistan. Instead both the teams played three
games each against West Indies. So there are various options open to
the government and the cricket officials. Which one will they opt for?