Indo-Pak contest could give Test cricket the kiss of life

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Last week the Pakistan Cricket Board proposed resumption of cricket ties with India. Three options were given: a series in either country, or failing that at a neutral venue.

The possibility of an India-Pakistan series whets the appetite of any cricket lover — and not just from these two countries. But is a bilateral series feasible now? Is this even desirable?

To do a dipstick survey of what fans want, I posed this question on twitter account last week after the PCB’s proposal had been made.

The responses on my timeline were interesting. There were serious misgivings amongst some Indian fans but almost every Pakistani respondent suggested immediate resumption. Overall, the verdict seemed to be in favour of the two countries playing in a neutral venue.

However Indo-Pak cricket reaches a peculiar crossroad here: while the two countries have almost always been at loggerheads where national politics is concerned, they seem to be joined at the hip in cricket politics.

The BCCI derives its clout in the ICC in no small measure to the support and votes it receives from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, supplemented by that from associate members.

Even from these, the most solid and consistent consistent support has come from Pakistan, beginning with the joint hosting of the 1987 World Cup when NKP Salve and Air Marshal Nur Khan, the respective board presidents, broke the England-Australia axis and took the tournament out of England. But this collaboration is not founded only on sub-continental bonding.

The BCCI’s riches are a major source for keeping the Boards of its allies afloat, so there is vested interest at work here. The disharmonious political climate between the two countries, however, has seen Pakistan cricket suffer frequently, especially in recent years.

Though the two countries have played against each other in the 2011 World Cup and Asia Cup recently, bilateral series have been suspended for almost five years: the last was in India in 2007.
The 26/11 of 2008 terror attack on Mumbai left the country scarred and seething.

Even the mere mention of cricket with Pakistan raised hackles. To make matters worse terrorists targeted the Sri Lankan team in Lahore in early 2009 to make the country a cricketing pariah.

No team is now willing to visit Pakistan putting it at the mercy of other countries to invite them or play at a neutral venue. But as the recent series’ against England (in Dubai) and Sri Lanka have shown, there has been sparse spectatorship making the contests a financial liability.

It is with a sense of utter desperation, therefore, that Pakistan is seeking a series with India. At all other times, the BCCI contemptuously cocks a snook at the powers that be, but where cricket with Pakistan is concerned, it has to toe the government’s line.

With Test cricket struggling badly, aficionados believe that an Indo-Pak contest would give it the kiss of life. But as we know, this is not just a matter of a sporting engagement. The recent extradition of Pak-trained terrorist Abu Jundal from Saudi Arabia may have revived misgiving.

Whether the big thrust given to bilateral trade between India and Pakistan recently also helps in the resumption of bilateral cricket is the moot question to which there is no clear answer.

Meanwhile, India has slipped to number 5 in the ICC Test rankings. This is the worst slump experienced by any side in the space of a year and must compel deep thought within the administration and players.

True, these rankings are not entirely scientific. It is also true that the Indian cricket is in a period of transition. But a complete bottoming out would reflect lack of depth in the system and loss of purpose among players.

How quick the recovery can be from here is the moot question. It will need not deep desire and commitment to reverse the trend. The next 12 months in which India play all the top notch teams should tell us the story.