Cricketing exchanges between India and Pakistan are a reflection of the political relationship between the two feuding nations. It is no secret that whenever there are skirmishes along the borders, or regular talk of war by politicians and hyper-nationalistic talk show hosts, the collateral damage comes in the form of cancelled cricketing ties.
On the other hand, whenever there is relative calm on the political front, it is cricket that is used by both sides as a tool to consolidate ties. It was at the start of one such phase – in 2004 – that India recorded a “historic” away Test series win over Pakistan. The icing on the cake for peace lovers in both countries was that it was informally called the “Friendship series.”
But tragically, in the context of India-Pakistan politics, such camaraderie doesn’t last beyond a few years at best. In December 2008, a month or so before the Indian cricket team were supposed to fly to Pakistan for yet another long tour, the Mumbai terror attacks happened, resulting in a hardening of stance by India and a breakdown in political and sporting ties.
Fast forward to today, and the situation looks unlikely to change. Following Narendra Modi’s rise to power, there has been an upsurge in anti-Pakistan rhetoric leading to a great deal of an unpleasantness all around. This has again contributed to an impasse where a cricket series between the two countries in the near future now looks difficult.
Yesterday, PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan refused outright India’s offer to play Pakistan’s “home” series in India. India’s stance being rather condescending, if not totally arrogant, Khan was perfectly within his rights to decline the offer because, according to a memorandum of understanding between the two countries, India had agreed to play the series in the UAE.
“There is no question of playing in India. I’m still awaiting the reason of not playing in UAE,” Khan said. “We went there in 2007 and 2012. This time not again. It is our series and we will play at our home venue which is the UAE. What is the problem playing in UAE as they had also played their IPL (Indian Premier League) there as well so why not Pakistan series?”
The BCCI says the Indian government will not allow the team to play in the UAE, which is strange because of the recent enhanced ties between the Emirates and India following Modi’s high-profile visit in August.
Pakistan, to its credit, has conducted itself in a dignified manner throughout the negotiations – this despite the fact that Khan was invited to India for a meeting, which had to be cancelled after members of the right-wing Shiv Sena party stormed the BCCI’s office in Mumbai.
It would be interesting to see what India would do now after Pakistan’s refusal. Ideally, it should back off a bit and seriously look at the possibility of playing the series in the UAE. As far as cricket is concerned the UAE may be Pakistan’s “home,” but the country also hosts hundreds of thousands of Indians which would at least ensure a sense of parity when it comes to crowd support.
The BCCI probably is worried that a UAE series would prove less profitable, but for the richest cricket board in the world that should not be a concern at all. For a change, wouldn’t it be better if cricket is given precedence over profits and politics?