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BCCI, govt in conflict over playing Pak decision

Onkar Singh in Delhi

The Board of Control for Cricket in India and the Government of India are engaged in a slanging match over the issue of playing cricket with Pakistan.

While BCCI secretary Jaywant Lele says the Board will abide by any directive issued by the Union government, the government maintains since the BCCI does not seek its clearance on other issues, it is for them to decide whether India should play Pakistan or not.

During the Kargil conflict in May/June, former India cricket captain Kapil Dev had demanded scrapping of cricket ties between the two countries till hostilities continued. Kapil's demand received an emotional response from all sections of the Indian community, with several past and present Test players endorsing his view.

However, now that hostilities are over, BCCI officials are pondering over the matter, though no one wants to risk annoying the government as also upset public sentiment.

"We will do what the government tells us to do. We will not play against Pakistan until the Union government tells us to do so, because it is a hard decision and the sentiments of the people of India are involved," a top BCCI official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Union Minister of State for Human Resources Uma Bharti told rediff.com that since the BCCI does not come under the Union government's purview, her ministry would not issue any edict on the matter.

"The BCCI has always been acting independently of the Union government. Now why do they want us to tell them what to do and what not to do?" Bharti asked.

Bharti's stand was lauded by former captain Bishen Singh Bedi. "I saw Uma Bharti's interview on television the other day. I must say she has taken the correct stand by telling the Board that it is for them to take a decision on this crucial issue. Why should the government take a decision on the Board's behalf? When it comes to giving contracts for the telecast of matches, the Board becomes independent; when it comes to deciding whether or not India should play cricket with Pakistan, they leave it to the government to take a decision. Why should the government bell the cat?" Bedi asked.

Kriti Azad, the former Bharatiya Janata Party member of the Delhi legislative assembly and a former Test cricketer, agreed with Bedi and Bharti. "I don't know what is going on in the Board. The Board is fighting with the players; the players are fighting with the Board; the Board is fighting with the sponsors. The sponsors are slinging mud at the Board.

"The ashes of the soldiers who laid down their lives while defending the country's borders are still hot; fighting is still continuing on the border almost every day and still the Board is in a hurry to decide whether we should play against Pakistan or not. I fully endorse Umaji's stand on the issue. There is complete madness about the way the Board is functioning at the moment," Azad told rediff.com

Azad also asked the Indian Hockey Federation to have a rethink about the national team's tour to Pakistan. He wondered how there could be two sets of rules for cricket and hockey.

"I have read the story in the national dailies, where it is mentioned that the Indian hockey team will take part in the Asia Cup tournament, to be held in Pakistan in November. Have we forgotten Kargil so soon? When we have decided there will be no sporting ties between India and Pakistan till Pakistan agrees to stop trans-border terrorism and respects the Line of Control, how can we think in terms of sending a hockey team to Pakistan?

"When a cricket tour is cancelled on emotional and patriotic grounds, then the same set of rules should also apply to Indian hockey," he declared.

With a choked voice, Azad lashed out at IHF president K P S Gill. "This was not expected from K P S Gill, the man who fought militancy in Punjab so bravely and brought it under control."

The supercop, however, expressed mixed views about going to Pakistan for the Asia Cup. He stressed the IHF had at no stage decided to cancel its commitments with Pakistan.

"The Asia Cup is an international commitment. Before the Olympics next year, we would like to take in as many tournaments as possible so that we are well prepared and can make a serious bid for the title," Gill said.

He said the IHF had taken the initiative to revive hockey links between India and Pakistan. "How can we now suddenly call off the tour? In any case, there is time till November to make any decision. Though we have decided to go ahead with the tour as of now, we would not like to send our team to Pakistan till I am personally satisfied with the kind of security offered to our players. The IHF will talk to the Pakistan Hockey Federation, and also to the Federatione Internationale Hockey (the world body), and then take a decision about the tour," said Gill.

Former BCCI president N K P Salve did not agree with Bharti though. "I don't know why she is talking in the first place. It is obligatory on the BCCI's part to get the external affairs ministry's clearance whenever our team has to go out of the country, be it a cricket or hockey tour. The government refused permission to play tennis against South Africa even though we had our best chance to win the Davis Cup. So, the Board is right when it says it is for the government to decide whether India should play Pakistan or not," the former Union minister said.

While Salve's statement is bound to add fuel to the fire, Kapil Dev, just back from England, refused to comment on the issue. When asked if rules applied for cricket should also be the same for hockey, he said he had nothing to say on the matter.

In the meanwhile, as the Indian cricket team gets ready to tour Sri Lanka and Singapore, the guessing game about playing with Pakistan continues.