IS INDO-PAK MATCHES "A WAR WITH OUT WEAPONS"

he biggest series of the cricketing world about to kick off as Pakistan comes to India with a new Captain, with plans to take revenge on India, this time for the T20 World Championship loss. That was topic of discussion on the show Face The Nation with Bhupendra Chaubey: Is Indo-Pak cricket still a war without weapons?

On the panel to debate the issue was former cricketer and chief selector Kiran More, member of the editorial board of DNA Ayaz Memon and Pakistan Cricket Board spokesperson Ehsan Malik.

A decade ago, writer Mike Marqusee gave the title to his book that the Indo-Pak cricket is like war being fought without weapons. Does that comment still hold?

“Sport is supposed to be a substitute for war. But I would underplay this war metaphor where India-Pakistan cricket is concerned. In ’61, when Haneef Mohammed came to Bombay, his hand was slashed by a fan, in ‘89 Shreekanth was attacked in by fans in the Karachi stadium but a lot has changed since then. In 2004, the Indian team and fans could go all over Lahore with the Indian flag, which was unthinkable before and the Pakistan team in ‘98 got a standing ovation in Chennai. So the players have played each other a lot so it has become a far more open environment,” said Ayaz Memom.

Sporting war?

The fact is whenever Indo-Pak relations at a political and diplomatic level have hit a low, it has always been cricket that has been used as an platform to vent feelings.

“It was earlier so but not anymore. I think the media has done a great job. Even the Captains the teams have had in the recent past have not been very aggressive. Inzamam-ul-Haq, for example, and Shoib Malik have been great regarding building relations,” said Kiran More.

Could it be that since the average age of the team has come down, we see less of on-field tantrums?

“I would not like to disagree to that but there are more important reasons for it. I agree with Ayaz and Kiran that it can’t be called war. There is such an intensity because in both the countries, cricket is more than passion, it’s almost a religion,” said Ehsan Malik.