Cricketers, keep away from politics

The Brussels blasts on Tuesday drowned a minor but significant outburst in Mohali by the captain of the visiting cricket team of Pakistan touring India to participate in the T20 World Cup. Skipper Afridi invoked the K word and support to their campaign. To a question from the on-field commentator that Pakistan seemed to have good crowd response, Afridi bowled the googly saying that there were a lot of Kashmiris in the crowd in Mohali and the team got good support in Kolkata as well. The on field commentator was none other than Rameez Raja of Pakistan. That the conversation telecast live was innocuous is difficult to digest. It is no co-incidence that a visiting skipper egged on by a Pakistani on-field commentator availed the free airtime to address millions of spectators and innocently furthered the national policy of Pakistan and the ISI to keep the Kashmir issue on the front burner. If nothing else, a tormented Afridi has certainly earned some brownie points back home among the hardliners, especially India baiters, after his equally controversial comments on arrival that the Pakiatan team got more love and affection in India than it gets at home. The Pakistan cricket team is going through a rough patch is all too well known. The performance of the team in the Asia Cup and the T20 World Cup has attracted nothing but criticism from fans of Pakistan cricket, former cricketers and politicians back home. An inquiry committee has been set up to question players about groupism within the team and underperformance of some players. Afridi himself is facing unprecedented flak on social media for his on and off-field antics. Afridi will step down as captain of the Pakistan cricket team and may even seek retirement from the game. Instead of making an honourable exit as an all-time great, Afridi has disgraced the tournament and sporting ethics by making a political statement knowing full well that Kashmir is the biggest bone of contention in the bilateral relations between India and Pakistan and his comments will be seen as yet another attempt by Pakistan to internationalise the issue. India is the host country. As hosts, the BCCI has done everything to accommodate all teams. A venue was also changed to allay the fears of Pakistan and a host of their questionable demands were acceded to to make the tournament inclusive. Pakistan has also disgraced the tehzeeb of being a good mehmaan by abusing the impeccable hospitality and making a terrible political statement from a sporting arena. The visitors have lost the sympathy and support of millions of cricket fans in India and abroad by the Afridi broadside. Visiting teams are ambassadors of goodwill of their country. The present Pakistan team has, however, betrayed poor diplomacy and caused a setback to the people-to-people contact between the two neighbours and future bilateral series. The captain of the Pakistan team has definitely tarnished the image of cricket — a ‘gentleman’s game’. Since Pakistan has crossed the Lakshmanrekha of sports diplomacy, the BCCI should not soft-pedal the issue and lodge a strong protest with the ICC. In turn, the ICC should also crack the whip lest such utterances become routine and cause embarrassment to other participating nations and allow deviance in sportsmanship. The silence of commentators, diplomats and former cricketers on the issue is eloquent. The TRP hungry electronic media also did not find the comment juicy enough. The Pakistani ex-cricketers who generally suffer from verbal incontinence have suddenly developed amnesia on this issue. Lately, reports have emanated in a section of the media suggesting escalation in Rawalpindi’s non-terror front activities using non-governmental organisations to create unrest in India. The dialogue between Rameez Raja and Afridi at the toss in Mohali is a pointer to the fact that it could well be an orchestrated master act than just a rant by a ruffled skipper. It could not have been better timed with separatist leaders of Kashmir headed for Delhi at the invitation of the Pakistan Ambassador to attend the Pakistan Day celebrations. The sub-text of the narrative needs to be analysed and understood in the right perspective and steps taken to foil such future designs. (This article appeared in the Tribune on 26 March, 2016.) https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/archive/comment/cricketers-keep-away-from-politics-213235/