LAHORE, Pakistan, 11 March 2004 — India’s cricketers arrived in Pakistan amid heavy security yesterday for their first full tour of the country in over 14 years — the latest sign of thawing ties between the nuclear-armed rivals.
Leaders from both countries hope that the tour, rekindling one of the greatest rivalries in the sport, will help maintain momentum toward a lasting peace after the neighbors came to the brink of a fourth war in 2002 over the disputed Kashmir region.
“Cricket will obviously create a better atmosphere between the countries,” said Ratnakar Shetty, India’s team manager, in Lahore. “The series is happening because the governments of both countries wanted it.” Hundreds of police and paramilitary troops surrounded Allama Iqbal airport in the eastern city of Lahore where the Indian team arrived.
Pakistani authorities have promised tight security after several international cricket visits were cancelled or curtailed over the last two years because of violence.
Syed Masood Shah, chief of police in the province of Punjab, where Lahore is located, said this week that 3,500 police officers would be deployed at Rawalpindi stadium for the second one-day match next Tuesday.
India will play a warm-up match in Lahore, close to the Indian border, on Thursday before traveling to the southern port city of Karachi for the first of five One-Day Internationals on Saturday.
“Play the game in the spirit of the game, and win hearts also,” Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee told the 15-member Indian team before it left New Delhi.
“May you be the victors,” he told the team before presenting them with a bat at his residence.
But that could prove a tough task. India has never won a Test match in Pakistan, having lost five and drawn 15 of their previous encounters.
Indian captain Saurav Ganguly sought to play down the tour’s political implications.
“I’m sure it is equally important for both teams to win,” he told reporters. “I don’t agree with the goodwill issue. It’s a cricket match and we are here to win.”
Mohammad Kaif, one of three Muslim players in India’s one-day squad, said he was excited about the tour.
“I always wanted to play cricket in Pakistan, more so because I have family here,” he told Reuters on the flight to Lahore. The two countries, with a combined population of more than one billion people, revere both cricket and their leading players.
Last year the Indian government lifted a ban on home and away matches against Pakistan imposed following tensions over the disputed Himalayan state of Kashmir.
New Delhi had banned cricket links with Pakistan three years ago due to tensions over Kashmir, the trigger of two of the three wars between the neighbors since independence from colonial rule in 1947.
Bus, train and air links have been restored since the peace process began in April last year, peace talks are under way.
Police used force last week to control fans queuing to buy tickets for the opening game in Karachi. When sales resumed on Monday, 21,000 tickets were snapped up in hours. Thousands of Indian fans are expected to travel to Pakistan for the series.
“It may be a goodwill series, but for us it’s very serious,” said Sunil Seth, a publisher among the few hundred gathered to see the Indian team off at New Delhi airport.
“We just can’t tolerate losing to Pakistan.”
India play five One-Day Internationals between March 13 and March 24, and begin the first of three Tests in Multan on March 28. The tour ends on April 17.
Inzamam, Miandad Hail
Indian Team’s Arrival
Meanwhile, Pakistan captain Inzamam ul-Haq and coach Javed Miandad yesterday welcomed Indian cricketers on their arrival in Pakistan for the first time in more than 14 years.
“It’s a great moment in Pakistan cricket and we welcome them on the tour to Pakistan with open arms,” Inzamam told AFP by phone from Karachi, where his team are warming up ahead of the opening one day match on Saturday.
“We are ready for them on the field but off it they will find us hospitable and accommodating,” said Inzamam, 33, who assumed the captaincy last year.
He considered the two sides equally balanced.
“In the next few days we are going to see exciting and positive cricket with no quarter spared.”
Coach Javed Miandad said he hoped the series would be viewed as a sporting event and nothing more. “Our guests have arrived and we welcome them,” he told AFP. “I urge the teams and the fans to take it as a cricket series and nothing else.”
Miandad was on the Pakistani team when India last undertook a full tour of Pakistan in 1989-90. Pakistan team manager Haroon Rasheed, who played for Pakistan in the 1970s and 1980s, said players from both sides shared good relations.
“The Indians have finally arrived and we are very happy that they are here,” he said. “There are going to be some moments stored in the history of Pakistan and Indian cricket. Pakistan is known for its hospitality so we will prove that, but on the field we promise some tough cricket.”
