BOMBAY, 9 January 2004 — The cricketing year for India ended just the way it began, with a loss. India had lost to New Zealand at the start of the year and at the end they lost to the Kiwis’ big brother Australia. While the loss in New Zealand was in the main due to the pitches and the understandable desire of the players not to get injured and miss out on the World Cup which was due to start in a month’s time, the defeat in Australia though disappointing was not the walkover that it was in New Zealand. If anything, the Aussies knew that they have a fight on their hands and for all their bluster.

One of the reasons the Indian team lost the Melbourne Test was the happenings in Pakistan that diverted their minds and made them lose focus. It wasn’t the routine bombing that is so much a part of the world nowadays, but the attempt on no less a person than the president of Pakistan and which nearly succeeded shook the Indians who are to tour there next month. The presence of the families of most of the players would have increased the anxiety levels considerably and it was no surprise that they lost the game in spite of having begun it so well. For midway through the Tests came the reports of a letter that had been drafted by the players to the BCCI saying that they were not available to go to Pakistan. The players’ concerns are totally understandable, but instead of getting into a discussion about it in the middle of a series, they should have conveyed their concern to the Indian Cricket Players’ Association and let them take it from there. By drafting a letter even though they may deny it now, the players unnecessarily got distracted from the Test and once the news became public, it was always going to overshadow everything else and be a further distraction. The matter should have been taken up by the Indian Players’ Association and still can be if someone there wakes up. After all, there’s no certainty that all the members of this team will be selected, so it’s the ICPA that should be talking on behalf of the players. The very fact that it’s the team that is taking such decisions doesn’t speak well of the ICPA and questions the reason for its being if the Indian Test players themselves have no faith in it to take up delicate matters with the board.

The error that the team made was in presuming that all of them would be the ones selected to go to Pakistan making the selectors look redundant. It was no surprise to find out that they later denied that they had drafted any letter or had conveyed any veiled threat to the BCCI, for the denial came when they knew that they were in a no-win position in the Test. If one goes by past experience then one can see that last year when the contract row was boiling, it was only when they got that great win in the Leeds Test to level the series that the players made bold to state their case, and so don’t be surprised that if they win the Sydney Test they will then emphatically convey their feelings about touring Pakistan.

At least, after the Melbourne Test, all those in the media will realize that in such matters, there’s simply no point in asking former players whether there should be any restoration of cricketing ties, for it is the views of the current players that are important and not those of the former players. After all, it’s the current players who will be going to Pakistan and not the former players, and so if they are uncomfortable then only they can tell it, not those who went there ten or twenty years back. The working committee of the BCCI is meeting soon to discuss the schedule, security arrangements and playing conditions that the PCB will have sent them, but what they must insist on is for the PCB to ensure that there are no political statements allowed on the ground and the assurance that any culprits will be evacuated. The TV channels also must be told specifically not to show any placards with a political message. This is an absolute must and if flags are to be allowed into the ground, then the Indian team must reserve the right to walk off if their flag is not treated with respect. This after all is more than a cricket tour and so the BCCI has to make sure that the feelings of the country are not tampered with. Unless these agreements are in place, the BCCI must not agree for its team to go to Pakistan.

Sure, safety and security are a major issue but it’s not just the twenty-or-so squad that will be in Pakistan but the hearts of the entire country will be there, and so it is vital that this is kept in mind by the BCCI. The just concluded ‘A’ teams tournament has shown that there is a desire to see contests between India and Pakistan, but let’s not forget that many families have lost their dear ones not too long ago.