'Less Cricket, More a Gladiatorial Contest'

The mood across the border is seen as "changing" with Pakistan's SportsMinister S.K. Tressler saying "Although the issue of Kashmir will top the agenda, theChief Executive (Pervez Musharraf) will also talk about the cricket relations between thetwo countries." Soft talk during a summit on which perhaps hinges the future of thepeople of J&K. Is it then what many cynics are claiming to be an "eyewash"?

Whatever the outcome of the Vajpayee-Musharraf talks, the very announcement of thePakistan CEO coming here to talk cricket among things has come like mannah from heaven forthe under-seige BCCI back home where its relations with the Sports Ministry is fastturning into a war of words - a game of one-upmanship. It is ironic that the conflict isover an issue which appears to be as clear as daylight. The government prohibits the BCCIfrom playing Pakistan in bilateral contests but okays contests against that country in amultilateral event. But then wise heads have said "Common sense is rare sense."Hence this much ado about nothing. As this senseless drama unfolds, cricket fans as wellas the BCCI mandarins watch with bated breath as the powers that be on Raisina Hill chalkout the future course of action.

The current drama began with BCCI chief Muthiah’s "unilateralannouncement" at the Asian Cricket Council meet in Lahore, committing to playPakistan in a Test of the Asian Test Championship (ATC) at Karachi in September. Thestatement dented the pride of the fiery and "nationalistic" Sports Minister UmaBharti, who has taken it upon herself to rid Indian cricket of all its ills and to bring the truantBCCI to book.

Her statement "To play in Pakistan, the BCCI has to first give a written proposalto the Sports Ministry which in turn would forward it to the Ministry of External Affairs.The final decision rests with the MEA," might have drawn applause from the saffroncircles, but cricketing pundits were quick to infer that it was another step in thedirection of bringing cricket under closer official control and that the sport was beingused as a tool to further her political career. Ms Bharti has had little to work in thisdirection. She assumed office when the match-fixing saga was still selling copies andshe seems to have effortlessly taken over where her predecessor SS Dhindsa (perhaps the first Sports Minister to have received mass media coverage on such an unprecedented scale) left off.

Utterings from the likes of Mutthiah and Lele are always convenient fodder to feed off but in hereagerness to hog the headlines, the Minister seems to have tied herself up in knots. While on onehand she has been sermonising the board on not playing the enemy, rumours were rife withinSports Ministry circles as soon as Vajpayee's invite to Musharraf was announced that she was planning a special cricket series with Pakistan tocomplement the efforts of the PM to engage Pakistan in bilateral talks.

The series was likely to be announced before the arrival of Gen. Musharraf. In theabsence of the PM, holidaying in Manali, Ms Bharti met Principal Secretary Brajesh Mishrato apprise him of her plans. The Minister was even slated to meet the PM early this week.Confronted with the report, an-ever belligerent Ms Bharti shot back "When the tiesthrough sports are to be discussed, the views of the Sports Ministry would be taken intoaccount. Beyond this, whatever is being written in the media is a matter of purespeculation."

Her wheeling dealings have left the BCCI officials losing face."I think we areback to square one," a BCCI official said. "It's all very confusing. I am notsure when we will play against Pakistan again." The BCCI took refuge in an officialdirective that permitted cricket matches against Pakistan in multi-nation events. Not onlydid the BCCI publicly confirm that India would take part, but it also signed up to a newACC ruling that imposes hefty fines on teams refusing to play a match.

The BCCI official, who requested anonymity because he did not want to "get intotrouble," said the Sports Ministry's flip-flop was tarnishing India's image ininternational cricket. "One day they say we can play against Pakistan in multi-nationevents, now we hear something else," the official said. "We agreed to the AsianTest Championship because we have a written directive from the Sports Ministry aboutmulti-nation events. "The championship is not only about India and Pakistan. Thereare Sri Lanka and Bangladesh also to contend with."

Former ICC president Jagmohan Dalmiya stepped into the ring to prove the SportsMinistry's go-ahead for the second edition of the ATC. Releasing copies of thecommunication between Muthiah and the Sports Ministry, Dalmiya said the board had producedthe Sports Ministry's letter at the Asian Cricket Council's meeting in Lahore. "Thefixtures were drawn up after receiving clarification from the board. Chairman of the AsianCricket Foundation, which will implement the ACC's programmes, Dalmiya said, "We wereaware of the strain in cricketing ties between India and Pakistan. That is why we wantedsomething in writing from the Indian board. Since they had answered our queries, we wentahead with finalising the fixtures".

The Ministry's reply could not have been clearer. "Since ICC Knockout and WorldCup are multilateral tournaments, it has no objection to the Indian team playing in thesetournaments despite the fact that certain matches in these tournaments may be playedbetween India and Pakistan either in India or in Pakistan."

Undoubtedly, Dalmiya had a point. Contrary to Sports Minister Uma Bharti's statementthat the board had not intimated the proposals regarding playing Pakistan in the ATC,Muthiah's letter dated 25 April clearly stated that India and Pakistan would be requiredto play each other in the forthcoming Asia Cup and ATC, events held on a rotational basis.

The board's letter said that in the absence of clear-cut policy guidelines from thegovernment on venues and opponents, the BCCI was unable to have a definite cricketcalendar for the Indian team in the period to follow. The letter had sought policyguidelines from the government on six specific points in response to Muthiah's letter. Inreply, the Ministry had clarified that "Regarding tournaments indicated in the ICCcalendar, it is stated that participation in such events is covered under the generalpolicy that India will continue to play Pakistan in multilateral tournaments at regularvenues". The Ministry's letter, dated 10 May and signed by Joint Secretary B.K. Das,said there was no change in the government stand regarding bilateral series againstPakistan.

While the board is right in pointing to the government's directive, the BCCI, perhapstook too much at face value. Given the Ministry's frequent vaults vis-a-vis playingPakistan -- be it not playing that country for abetment of terrorism in J&K or innon-regular venues like Sharjah and Toronto for fear of match-fixing -- should have madeMuthiah more vigilant. More so with Ms Bharti at the helm. The Sadhvi has the knack ofadmitting to and then denying reports. One such incident being her admitting having"soft feelings" towards Govindacharya during an interview to a magazine. MsBharti did a immediate turnaround and staged a dharna outside the publication's officedemanding an apology.

The BCCI-Ministry correspondence has had the Minister planning her next move and it canstill turn out that all the inspired talk of India crossing the border after 12 years toplay arch rivals Pakistan in September may come to naught.

The BCCI's fears found consonance in Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh words that thegovernment was not in favour of resuming cricketing ties between India and Pakistan."Cricket matches between the two countries were less cricket and more of agladiatorial contest," he said during a Press conference. And then there are reports today about General Musharraf wanting to discuss cricketing ties with Vajpayee. Clearly, cricket seems to be becoming a core issue.

Apart from the fines that could be levied on the BCCI for capitulating, there could befurther humiliation in store for the BCCI as the Australian Cricket Board -- theprofessional outfit that it is -- has already begun wooing the Dav Whatmore’s SriLankans to replace the Indians at the Colonial Stadium (Melbourne) and Gabba (Brisbane).Notwithstanding the nineteen-to-the-dozen talking BCCI honorary secretary JY Lele’sstatement that India was ready to get on with the tour Down Under if the Aussiesrescheduled the ODIs (slated for 14, 16 and 18 September), hopes that the contest wouldproceed appear to be scuttled. For after the 13-17 September Test against Pakistan inKarachi, the Indians play a home Test against Bangladesh from 21-25 September. The ACBcannot be blamed for its move given the stakes of modern day cricket.

India last appeared in a Test on Pakistani soil in 1989 when Krishnamachari Srikkanth'steam played a four-Test series against Imran Khan's side. They returned in 1997 for athree-match one-day series to mark the Independence of Pakistan. Since 1989, Pakistan haveappeared in two one-day series in India as well as a two-Test series in 1999. The sameyear they also contested the opening match of the inaugural ATC at Kolkata. India, aftertheir 1989 Test tour, have cancelled four visits to Pakistan. The latest boycott was theSharjah meet in April this year. The move angered the PCB, which said it would boycott theIndian team in future.

While insiders in the Sports Ministry and BCCI officials feel that nothing can uniteIndia and Pakistan better than cricket, specially when the heads of the two states aregoing to talk peace, Ms Bharti refuses to lower her guard. "Bilateral cricketing tieshave nothing to do with the souring of relations between the two countries. It was thesouring of relations which resulted in the snapping of bilateral cricketing ties," isher stand. Compare her current stand to the situation in April when India's boycottof the Sharjah meet had the PCB chief Lt Gen Zia threatening to snap off cricketing ties.An ardent cricket fan, General Musharraf asked the PCB chief to tone down his anti-Indiastance and the latter had toned down his rhetoric.

The BCCI finds itself treading a thin line. On one hand Lt Gen Tauqir Zia has gone totown talking about the "commitment by the Indian officials on appearing in the ATCand how the match would revive relations between the two Asian powerhouses", and onthe other is the rap the board has got from the Sports Ministry. Not to mention Jaswant Singh invoking gladiatorial contests in describing Indo-Pak cricket matches. A boycott of the September Test could leave India facing cricketing sanctions while friction with thegovernment could threaten its favoured status. How Muthiah and his men steer their way outof troubled waters remains to be seen. Perhaps they would be rooting for the General from across the border to do the talking on their behalf.