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Sunday, April 15, 2012

Bangladesh to tour Pakistan: “Thank you Tigers”


Bangladesh News: Bangladesh has realized they cannot grow tall under a shade

Pakistan is not a place where foreigners would visit happily, especially to play a game of cricket as a bunch. And that too in the wake of infamous and unfortunate Lahore incident three years ago in which Sri Lankan team bus came under fire from terrorists. But for how long Pakistan would remain a ‘no go’ area for international cricket teams, one may ask!

The Lahore incident made Pakistan cricket suffer. There may have been some security lapse, but the World should understand that it was the work of terrorists, not cricket-loving Pakistani people. They have been deprived of international cricket for over three years now. Where in the world terrorism and crime do not happen? No Pakistani city is listed in the top 10 ‘Most Dangerous Cities’ by mostdangerouscities.org. In fact the top most dangerous city, Cape Town, holds regular international events.

In today’s World, unfortunately, impressions matter more than realities. And impressions are created by idiosyncrasies of geopolitics not by universal values like globalization, brotherhood or friendship. And two most powerful actors in this regard are media and money. We see what media wants us to see and the single most powerful motivation for the media is money.

People in Pakistan had high hopes from countries like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka that these two would be first to take initiative towards restoring cricket tours in Pakistan. A year ago, discussions with Sri Lanka could not materialize but that was understandable to some extent in the light of atmosphere around that time. Now when Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) accepted the invitation from Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for a short tour, it came as a massive relief for cricket fans in Pakistan. Earlier Pakistan had nominated Mustafa Kamal, BCB president, for ICC vice-presidency.

Mustafa Kamal gave a go-ahead to the tour after inspecting facilities and security in Pakistan. As the head of the visiting 9-member delegation he said at a press conference in Lahore: "After seeing all the security arrangements all of us agree and are satisfied that the security infrastructure is in place. Now it is my responsibility to convince my government to allow the tour and also request the ICC to approve the tour. Since the ICC governs and regulates the game we have to take this issue to them and must bring it to their notice that we want to send a team."

Following this ground-breaking step, International Cricket Council (ICC) put forth a "special dispensation" for "exceptional circumstances" to make possible bilateral series at "unsafe" venues.  This meant appointment of non-neutral match officials and other support staff. This was another big leap taken by the ICC to help Pakistan restore international series.

In this backdrop Pakistan allowed their players to take part in the inaugural Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) and in fact ensured their maximum participation. During the Asia Cup in Bangladesh, the series was to be given a formal approval but suddenly things started to change. First there was statement of Mustafa Kamal in which he put onus back on the ICC and then, quite astonishingly, BCB decided to challenge an incident that occurred in the last over of the final match. They lost the challenge, and most of the respect they had earned in Pakistan by playing brilliantly and showing sensitivity to Pakistan. There was a clear message that Bangladesh was reluctant to tour, in fact it signalled their change of mind.

With each passing day, chances of a Bangladesh tour were fading. It was widely believed that Pakistan-Bangladesh cricket relations were on the line. Memories of 2009 started to haunt once again when immediately after the Lahore incident, Bangladesh cancelled a scheduled Pakistan tour citing security difficulties in the wake of Bangladesh Rifles’ mutiny. Pakistan was willing to go despite security concerns. The relationship between the boards remained cold afterwards for a long time.


Pakistan has always sided with its neighbours. In the 1996 World Cup, Pakistan, and India, paid a special tour to Sri Lanka when Australia and West Indies had refused to go. Pakistan board was the most forceful voice behind Bangladesh’s ambition to gain Test status. Pakistan always wanted to play with India but it was India who chose when to play and when not to. Politics mostly won over sport.

It is widely believed, here in Pakistan, that there was an outside force behind Bangladesh’s reluctance to tour Pakistan. Cricket fans have many reasons to believe, right or wrong, that Indian board has an agenda to keep cricket away from Pakistan. From consistent refusal to restore bilateral series to shunning of Pakistan players from Indian Premiere League, most of the indicators favour this notion.

It was hard to believe that Bangladesh would be lured into the trap by a board that had refused to allow them a full tour till 2020. But the trap seemed to be attractive; there were signals that Bangladesh might be invited after all. In that backdrop, dark clouds hanged over the proposed tour – Was Bangladesh looking for an excuse to cancel the tour? Even I, an ardent Bangladesh fan, started doubting their intentions. My FB status read: “Pakistan has always sided with the Asian block; perhaps it is time now to look elsewhere.”

Meanwhile Lashings, a club based in English county Kent, did tour Pakistan to play a few limited overs matches. Although it was not an international Test side, but the successful tour gave a clear message – the security is in place for the touring teams, only if they are willing to tour.

Now had Bangladesh called the tour off, Pakistani fans would have been utterly disappointed. There was an aura of respect towards Bangladesh when Mustafa Kamal gave the green signal, which grew even stronger after Bangladesh’s brilliant showing in the Asia Cup. But that sentiment was transforming into bitterness and disbelief – “The ‘brothers’ have turned their face away when they were needed the most”. Why raise hopes when you are not sure about the tour in the first place!

By expressing their anger on different forums on the internet, fans in Pakistan were showing their disappointment as they wanted the brotherly relations between the two boards and countries continue. But there are elements on both sides and elsewhere who want to destroy that. A few days back I read a status from one of my Bangladeshi friends on Facebook which goes like this: “The best all rounder in the world refuses to go the worst place in the world (sic).” And another stated that do not make us remind 1971.

These statements make me feel sad. We wanted our friends in Bangladesh to exert moral pressure on their board and government so that they keep staying on their feet. One such voice, Faisal Caesar, wrote a brilliant piece advocating the cause. The hopes rested on the ICC Executive Board meeting to be held in Dubai on 15-16 April.

By confirming that the tour is on, Bangladesh has shown it has come of age. It shows their maturity as well as willingness to exert their independent opinion on the cricketing matters at the ICC level. After on-field exploits, they have gone a further notch up as far as off-field matters are concerned. Most importantly, they have put smiles back on their brothers’ faces a thousand miles away. The doubters have been silenced, at least for now, as the tour is still to be materialized. But now only a disaster can stop that tour to happen.

Bangladesh remained a ‘minnow’ for too long for their fans’ liking. Now that their team has shown consistent performances, their board should come out of that ‘minnow’ mindset and make bold decisions. They should do what suits them best, not what is good in the short run. If they remain a stooge they will never be accepted a force in world cricket. Better they earn respect than money alone. Remember, a plant under the shadow of a tree does not grow tall. The current decision, surely, is the right step towards that goal.

Joy Bangla, Joy Tigers!

9 comments:

  1. First published in sportpulse.net on 15/4/12
    - http://www.sportpulse.net/content/bangladesh-tour-pakistan-%E2%80%9Cthank-you-tigers%E2%80%9D-3302

    ReplyDelete
  2. well it's good for pakistan and bad for B'desh Cricket. Pakistan is top quality cricketing nation they must maintain it's standrad and countinue to play with top quality teams like S'Africa,England or Australia,

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