Crisis-ridden cricket tour of India takes off at last (25 January 1999)

25 January 1999

Crisis-ridden cricket tour of India takes off at last

By Lateef Jafri

After serious doubts and several hiccups at last the Pakistan cricket team has landed in India and played the opening side match in Gwalior.

Despite assurances at the highest level, the security problem continues to haunt the tour. The tension and temperature which touched the peak when the Indian board's offices in Bombay were ransacked by Shiv Sena vandals, came down, however, after the announcement that Bal Thackeray, the militant party's chief, has called off the avowed agitation against the tour.

The appointment of Sheharyar Khan, a top-class diplomat and a recognised sportsman, as manager, highlights the importance of the series.

The suspicions about the security environment in the neighbouring country have not completely abated since Thackeray after emergency meeting with L.K. Advani, Indian Home Minister, said the suspension was not for an indefinite period and the Pakistani squad on arrival in Delhi was protected by gun-holding commandos and was quickly taken to the hotel, which, according to reports, looked like a fortress. This has never happened with a visiting team in a foreign country. In the recent past the Australians and the West Indians shunned Sri Lanka for the personal safety of the players.

The incident of self immolation in the southern port city of Madras against the cricket series and the fact that both Indian captain Azharuddin and star player Tendulkar have been provided with armed guards point to the dangers facing the series.

However, as Raj Singh Dungarpur, President of the Indian board, said after the right-wingers' withdrawal of threats that the game of cricket had won.

Relying on the assurances of full safety by India's Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and his keenness to see the teams to have trial of strength on his country's venues, Manager Sheharyar Khan told a news conference in Delhi, "I hope our players get the welcome they deserve across India," adding, "if there is tension-free cricket, people will appreciate it."

A relieved Pakistani skipper, Wasim Akram, said the Shiv Sena decision would take a lot of pressure from the minds of the players and they would now concentrate on the game. Though Wasim conceded that the series were tough and challenging he promised exciting cricket. He called for a resolute approach from his squad.

Both the lineups will be facing each other after lean periods but all critics are agreed that it would be a good opportunity to see the infirmities in the combinations and field balanced and determined sets in the World Cup in England in the summer, even though the conditions and the strips would be entirely different from those in India.

The Federal Government's green signal to the cricket board for its programmed tour of India had received a mixed reception from the enthusiasts of the game and the general public.

It was after Vajpayee, heading the BJP coalition government, had repeatedly promised full protection to the visitors that the Islamabad officialdom thought that the trip may be undertaken. It was his duty to ensure that no harm came to the team, said Vajpayee. The Prime Minister pledged to a worried delegation of top Indian sportsmen that he won't allow "a few militants to spoil the matches."

However, the opinions of the High Commissioner in Delhi, Ashraf Jahangir Qazi, and the board's councillor dispatched to India to take stock of the extremist threats and feelings in that country about sporting links with Pakistan, Brig Saeed Rafi, a security specialist, which clinched the decision in favour of a revival of Test series after more than a decade. After inspecting the ground conditions in Delhi and meeting senior cricket officials in Calcutta, particularly, Jagmohan Dalmiya, President of the International Cricket Council, Brig Rafi said, "I am satisfied, I am satisfied, they have done a lot of work and hopefully we will see the implementation of the arrangements." Still the Foreign Office and the Home Ministry could not have taken the initiative only on the basis of a positive communication from the High Commission. The Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, had to give a final verdict on the sensitive issue after being briefed on the security arrangements in India and the Vajpayee regime's resolve to foil the attempts of the Hindu right-wingers to sabotage the proposed visit. Satisfied with the report from his representative in Delhi and the assessment of the board's emissary the Premier came to the conclusion that the trip should not be cancelled. The PCB administrators immediately finalised the remaining formalities for the departure of the players.

However, in Pakistan many are surprised as to why the Delhi government did not meet the problem of Hindu extremists politically and administratively much earlier. It was after the Shiv Sena leadership and workers had become quite powerful and went on the rampage at Delhi's Ferozeshah Kotla ground that Vajpayee appealed to the cricket-crazy Indian public to take notice of their actions and put pressure on their workers to abstain from insanity. "The public has to urge these people that the matches, be they of cricket, hockey or any other sport, should be played in their true spirit and should not be disrupted."

As the Pakistani captain Wasim Akram, coach Javed Miandad and former skipper-turned politician Imran Khan greeted the Islamabad decision with the hope that the two countries will engage in absorbing cricket for the enjoyment of the game's fans news came from across the border of vandalism at the main offices of the Indian board located in Bombay's Brabourne Stadium. This was the place where Hindus and Muslims saw their packs exhibiting sublime cricket, in a calm atmosphere, neither malice nor sectarian feelings on or off the field.

The spectators enjoyed vintage cricket; the commentator was a Parsi, Bobby Talyarkhan. But those were the good old days when Maharashtran cities of Bombay and Pune were mad about cricket and the public was refined - they enjoyed the batsmanship of C.K. Nayudu, Mushtaq Ali, Vijay Merchant and Vijay Hazare.

Delhi shifted the venue of the first Test to Madras, which is prepared to make swift arrangements to stage the Indo-Pakistan tie. Iron-cast security was difficult in the Indian capital due to the Republic Day celebrations there and Mr Gandhi's death anniversary later on Jan 30, the reason given by the Indian administrators for changing the site of the first Test.

Even though Shiv Sena's fulminations against the visiting outfit and its many rash actions have not won many friends in India, sober analysts think that discretion should have been the better part of valour.

Besides, in their view there won't be much gain from the Indian combats. The players may still be fearful of attacks on themselves on the field and may not be able to perform at their optimal level. If at all some team members get hurt Pakistan may be having a herculean task of finding capable replacements so near the World Cup, the main event in the 1999 cricket calendar.

Then could the matches be meaningful without the presence of the cricket fans of Pakistan in Indian cities and could they feel secure there despite the pledges of Vajpayee of fool-proof arrangements for the revival of cricketing relationship?

Technically many experts are giving the view that the strips in India will be dead ones. If the duels in India are for testing the strength and weakness of the conglomerate for the upcoming World Cup they will be an exercise in futility.

As regards the matches Imran Khan, renowned all-rounder and a keen observer of the game, has put Pakistan odds-on favourite in the Indian series with the rider that it's upto the players to sustain the offand on-the-field pressure in the host country.

Captain Wasim Akram is optimistic about the end result, though coach Javed Miandad thinks the battles will be quite tough.

In what should be taken as a major alteration the PCB accepted the advice of the government by appointing Sheharyar Khan, former Foreign Secretary and ex-representative of the United Nations in many countries, as Manager, relegating the earlier nominee as Associate Manager. Coached by the stalwarts of the Bhopal Wanderers, Sheharyar's speciality is hockey but according to the former Federal Secretary himself he has played plenty of cricket at the Wimbledon Club and had been a member of the Cambridge second string.

However, for a sensitive and difficult visit a top diplomat was necessary, settling problems on the spot and using his contacts in India, being a Bhopal prince his presence will turn out to be extremely beneficial. Like his illustrious uncle the late Nawab Iftikhar Ali Khan of Pataudi he may prove to be an impressive extempore speaker, which may win him many friends in India.

The team as selected is a balanced one, even with stress on the youth content in it, according to Sarfraz Nawaz, former Test pacer but usually a bitter critic of everything in sport.

Nevertheless, one may take the choice of the newly-inducted opening batsmen with a pinch of a salt. Perhaps an experiment on the slow wickets in India may not hone the skills of the rookies for a different type of wickets in England. In any case it is to be seen if they show the right mode and method in the matches and are not swayed by the big occasion.

Javed Miandad sees the series to be result-oriented but it is difficult to say which way the pendulum will move?

Source :: Dawn (https://dawn.com/)