India-Pak Cricket Ties: Nothing to Do With Terrorism?

Bangalore: After five years of no cricket, India and Pakistan will play once again this December. On Monday, the BCCI agreed to host three ODIs and two T20s between the traditional rivals. The short bilateral series will begin towards the end of December and be over in January 2013.

India versus Pakistan immediately invokes images of not only great sporting encounters but also of terrorism and acts of terror. It is impossible to separate the two in the minds of most Indians or Pakistanis because even though sport and terrorism are on extreme ends, in this case they are joined.

Further, there has been no international cricket in Pakistan post the 2009 terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team, and that has left PCB severely cash strapped and probably that’s why they need this more than India.

BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla said “Even after the Kargil War, and the 1965 and 1971 wars, Pakistani cricket teams toured India,” as reported by First Post. He added that “Even the public wants Indian and Pakistani teams to play against each other.”

The difference between Kargil, the 1965 and 1971 wars and the 26/11 attacks was that for the first time civilians were attacked in such an evil manner and it scarred the minds of all those present or watching it forever.

India and Pakistan should continue to meet on the cricket field but one also hopes that their encounters happen without the shadow of terrorism and politics so that peace is maintained. While it is indeed, the political history of the countries that makes the rivalry emotional.