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| No trophy for now |
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Wednesday, August 27, 2008
The decision by the International Cricket Council to postpone to October 2009 this year's Champion's Trophy comes as a devastating blow to Pakistani cricket and followers of the game in the country. The latter especially will be massively disappointed and may well see the postponement as part of a system of double standards from certain 'white' cricketing nations and many will be telling themselves that the decision is biased. However, having said that, such a decision had more or less become inevitable following recent bomb blasts, in Lahore ahead of Independence Day and then in Dera Ismail Khan and Wah. So instead of blaming the goras for 'chickening out' Pakistanis need to blame the militants for without this scourge things would never have come to this. The South Africans had already decided they would not be travelling to Pakistan, following the devastating blasts this month and the militants' threat that more could take place within major cities. It was widely thought that Australia, New Zealand and England, whose players' associations had warned against travel to Pakistan, would follow suit or else send in weakened teams. This of course would have rather destroyed the flavour of the competition, even if Asian teams had participated fully. In such circumstances, Pakistan is rather fortunate to retain hosting rights to the event. There had been apprehensions the Trophy would be shifted to Sri Lanka or another venue. The PCB has already shown appreciation for the ICC's expression of sympathy for Pakistan's situation and its readiness to retain it as a venue for the cricketing event which, after the World Cup, is the biggest cricketing fiesta on the international calendar.
Pakistan's cricket fans, already starved of top quality cricket after Australia withdrew from a scheduled tour some months ago, are of course the biggest losers. Because of terrorism (and in most of their minds, double standards from 'white' cricketing nations), they have been deprived of an opportunity to watch top level cricket at our stadiums or to enjoy the welcome distraction such contests offer from bitter political realities. The delay is of course damaging to Pakistan cricket, and also to the image of the country. But looking at things realistically, it would be perhaps too much to expect teams to travel to Pakistan willingly at this point in time. The militants have already stated that westerners are a target. What would Pakistan have done if it faced such a security risk in a foreign country? We all know, foolproof security against suicide bombers is virtually impossible. And an attack at a cricketing venue would of course have been truly devastating for all lovers of the sport. It would also have kept teams out of Pakistan for a very long time to come, inflicting terrible damage.
The ICC decision is of course sad. It is another reminder of how terrorism has altered the very nature of our society and affected every aspect of life within it. Sport too is not immune. We must now hope the situation can be brought under control over the coming year, so that the delayed Trophy can go ahead and cricketing life in the country returned to normal.
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ISSN 1563-9479 
