Ten on Nine yaar, what you think 
Kadambari Murali
Lahore, March 6
Guess who’s on the list of people who could be invited to watch the forthcoming “friendship series” between India and Pakistan? Shiv Sena boss Bal Thackeray.
No, this isn’t some kind of joke. It seems that the top brass here — whether in the Pakistan Cricket Board here or the Pakistan government is unclear — is actually contemplating inviting Thackeray to make a point of sorts to him and other right-wingers back home.
The proposal, according to sources, is still under consideration but if the Pakistanis actually get down to it, it would be a startling, if very diplomatic, gesture and one that will outdo all other diplomatic initiatives.
The problem is that sending an invite to Thackeray is a very tricky issue, sentiment wise. And then, god only knows — if an invite is actually sent to the chief of the pitch-digging gang — whether Thackeray will actually accept it. Probably not, but that would be secondary.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi is expected to be here for the fourth and fifth one-dayers. However, it’s unclear whether they invited her, she herself expressed a wish to be part of all the back-slapping warmth that’s the order of the day or whether she’s on the list of “must” invitees the BCCI has sent in.
PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan said Rahul and Priyanka Vadra will attend the Karachi one-dayer.
Sources say that President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee and his deputy L.K. Advani will also be invited, probably for the Lahore one-dayers, as it would be relatively easier to arrange the kind of mind-boggling security required in one place.
A host of other dignitaries, especially those connected with Indo-Pak affairs, are expected to be among the invitees. These are early days yet, so it’s unclear when the invitations will be sent out. But if the discussions are anything to go by, things are hotting up.
From the cricket fraternity, there aren’t any surprises. BCCI chief Jagmohan Dalmiya will be in Karachi, as will ICC president Ehsan Mani.
