Why India and Pakistan must play: I'm glad Gautam Gambhir is not boycotting India-Pak commentary in World Cup 2019
"For next few days I will be away to Mumbai for commentary work 4 @StarSportsIndia. But my East Delhi office will be operational in Shrestha Vihar. My eyes &ears @gauravbir786 (Mr Gaurav), @SumitNarwal (Mr Sumit) and Mr Sagar will regularly update me on all d developments," read a tweet from former cricketer and newly elected MP Gautam Gambhir.
For next few days I will be away to Mumbai for commentary work 4 @StarSportsIndia. But my East Delhi office will be operational in Shrestha Vihar. My eyes &ears @gauravbir786 (Mr Gaurav), @SumitNarwal (Mr Sumit) and Mr Sagar will regularly update me on all d developments.
— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) June 7, 2019
On June 16, Gambhir would be sitting in the commentary box with other cricketing greats, rooting for India as the Men in Blue take on the Men in Green, in one of the most awaited matches of the World Cup.
On March 18, the same Gambhir had asked for a boycott of the very match for which he would be giving a ball by ball commentary on Sunday.
In the aftermath of the Pulwama attack, Gambhir had vociferously called for cutting cricketing ties with Pakistan.
Since India anyway doesn't have bilateral cricketing ties with Pakistan, Gambhir pitched for a blanket ban on engagement with Pakistan "even if it comes at the cost of being ostracised by the sporting community".
Gambhir wasn't the only one who called for India forsaking the match and conceding the two points such a decision would have cost India in the ICC World Cup 2019.
But a match between India and Pakistan is not about two points or four.
India had cut all bilateral cricket ties with Pakistan after 26/11. In 2012-13, Pakistan was, however, invited for a few limited-over matches. But that stopped as Pakistan continued to sponsor terror on Indian soil. According to a Mint report, Star is charging Rs 25 lakh for 10 second ad slots during the match, up from Rs 16-18 lakh for other India games. With about 5,500 seconds of total inventory, Star is likely to generate as much as Rs 100 crore from the India-Pakistan match alone.
So, how has the nation suddenly forgotten the over 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel who were martyred in the February 14 Pulwama attack masterminded in Pakistan by Jaish-e-Mohammed?
India is no sporting country. All its hopes and aspirations are pinned on cricket to give the country a sense that it is invested in sports. It is the only sport in which India can come close to emerging on top of the world. Twice in history — 1983 and 2011 — India were World Cup champions.
Cricket is everything for scores of Indians — a religion, and also in George Orwell's description, like all sports, war minus the shooting. So, when Pakistan claimed 40 Indian bravehearts in Pulwama, many Indians wanted to use cricket as a weapon to attack Pakistan.
Anger was whipped up and as is the tendency of anger to be — it was directionless.
The argument was noisy, like all arguments are — Pakistan should be isolated and called out for being a terror sponsor. Without an iota of doubt, Pakistan is that. But factor this in too — even as the clamour for a boycott was growing, Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria met Pakistan president Dr Arif Alvi on the occasion of Eid. Pakistan foreign secretary Sohail Mahmood, meanwhile, offered prayers at our Jama Masjid to mark Eid.
Even when civil society locked horns in the hawk versus dove approach battles, Track II and Track III diplomacies are doing the needful to diffuse situations and prepare grounds for talks. Mahmood was Islamabad's envoy to India till mid-April. His offering namaz at the Jama Masjid was not just part of a mere pilgrimage.
Yes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi snubbed his Pakistan counterpart, Imran Khan, in Bishkek at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) submit — but that is Track I diplomacy where posturing happens.
Putting the onus of stopping India from playing Pakistan on the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and International Cricket Council (ICC) was only a diversionary tactic. When we are busy punishing Pakistan as ordinary citizens calling for the game's boycott, crucial questions about how Pulwama could happen in the first place could slip out of the window.
In a break from the past, the BJP government did a lot to ensure Pakistan behaves better. Getting Jaish chief Masood Azhar designated as a global terrorist was part of that effort. The Balakot air strikes conveyed to Pakistan in no uncertain terms that there will be consequences to being rogue.
But the calls for India to boycott the game of cricket amounted to overestimating the game of cricket itself because, well, we hardly have much to estimate in the world of sports. Now, before you throw at me names and medal tallies, let me tell you this straight, you will be only be throwing names of people who could win on international platforms. Compare these performances and tallies with the world's best. And no, we don't even love cricket — we love the stars cricket gives us, else who do we emulate?
That is why the best performing teams face public humiliation after losses.
Even Sachin Tendulkar had to face angry crowds outside his house because at some point, he failed to help the collective ego of this nation feel good due to a match loss.
Playing Pakistan is not about the two points in the World Cup — it is only about keeping sports and politics separate. Once we allow sports to be used as a tool of politics, we don't know where the problem would stop. People losing lives in terror attacks is a very serious issue. It needs logical solutions like stopping Pakistan's PM from attending an Indian Prime Minister's swearing-in ceremony. Like boycotting Imran Khan at the SCO summit. That conveys a message.
The World Cup is not a bilateral affair. India is finding ways of dealing with Iran even in the face of US threats. India does business with Israel despite Palestine's sometime muted, sometimes loud protests. India boycotting Pakistan in the World Cup doesn't make a difference to the world. ICC can't boycott India, but India too can't boycott cricket because there aren't too many fallback options, you see.
There is a reason why the India Pakistan match is scheduled for a Sunday.
India Pakistan matches matter because there is a rivalry. Sans the rivalry, it is as good as India playing Bangladesh or England or South Africa. A match washed out against New Zealand is not the same as a match washed out against Pakistan.
That can break hearts.
Terror must stop and the game must go on.
Meanwhile, like Gambhir, let us all cheer for India on June 16.