Should India Tour Pakistan

[fkhan2]

We already have disscused this issue of playing on neutral venues in many threads. Here is one such thread

http://www.paklinks.com/gs/cricketnama/281201-ecb-has-offered-pcb-host-pak-aus-test-series.html

and here are quotes from some guppies from the above thread:

The ball is now in PCB’s court. They need to pick between no cricket or some circket. It could be a dramabaazi for countries like Australia, England or India where they can threaten other countries and boycott tours, but for us it is unfortunately a harsh reality .

The ground reality may be different but from an outsider’s perspective, if they don’t feel safe in Pakistan in the current situation, there nothing much you can do about it.

Not sure how the dollars stack up, but, comparing to the other option of having zero cricket, I’d say this offer should be carefully considered.

Hopefully in a few weeks/months/years, the security situation will improve in Pakistan, so this should not be deemed as a precedence.

I am afraid though, that egos (personal and national) and false pride will come in the way of an intelligent decision.

It is about time that we all should take our heads out of the sand. The sooner we realize that Non-Asian teams will not be touring PAkistan the better it will be for the game of cricket in Pakistan. Who could have thought the even with the support of the Asian Block, a country could fail to convince the ICC? But it happened. The bottom line is that if we want to hold on to our image, ego or pride then just be prepared to play with India, Srilanka, BD and Zimbabwe for the next couple of years because even if ground realities will be different in Pakkstan but the international perception is not going to change anytime soon.

I don’t know about the World Cup and frankly speaking I don’t care. May be the situation will still remain the same till then. So does that mean between now and 2011 we don’t play any cricket at all with theses teams??? Just because we want to organize few matches of the World Cup in Pakistan in 2011, we jeopardize chance of playing competitvie cricket?

as they say… “Pragmatism is the new Idealism” and although on the outset, we might oppose adopting solutions to problems that might lack conscience or balance - such as teams not coming to Pakistan to play… the reality of it is that we need to recognize that we’re not the choosers in this situation. We’re here now… and we’ve got to decide what’s best for Pakistan Cricket.

@kamran abbasi

I have never been a fan of neutral venues but the predicament of Pakistan cricket calls for pragmatism. Pakistan’s cricketers require regular international competition. Another year of desolation, like 2008, may condemn Pakistan cricket to a slippery slope that cannot be climbed.

Hence, Pakistan must embrace neutral venues for countries unwilling to travel there.

[TUMS]

Re: Should India Tour Pakistan

I don't care anymore, cricket is done.

[fkhan2]

Becoming sidelined a concern - Modi

Lalit Modi, the BCCI vice-president, has said India could go Pakistan’s way in losing out on international series if terrorist attacks continue. In 2008 India has witnessed blasts in Jaipur (during the IPL), Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Delhi, Guwahati (during Australia’s tour), and now Wednesday’s terrorist attacks in Mumbai.

“It [India’s chances of holding international cricket] is something we need to think about seriously because becoming sidelined like Pakistan due to security threats is something that is logical,” Modi told the Times of India. “We have to ensure that the security measures we take are the best. As I said, we shouldn’t allow such attacks to disrupt our determination.”

Modi, who is also the Champions League chairman, felt the terrorist attacks should not discourage India.

SOURCE: Cricinfo - Becoming sidelined a concern - Modi

.

*I won’t say that BCCI is going through the same phase which PCB has gone through especially during 2008 when majority of the teams were not in favour of touring Pakistan. BCCI knows that eventhough teams likes Australia, England, South Africa will now take more security measures before touring India however they will still have a more softer stance towards India than Pakistan. *

*Keeping that into consideration India might not consider cancelling the upcoming tour of Pakistan. However I also want to acknowledge that BCCI have shown their strong support for Pakistan cricket even before Mumbai incident. If they tour Pakistan, it won’t be due to the fact that they want to set up an example so that other teams would tour India as well. BCCI have indeed gone out of their way in the last few years in supporting Pakistan cricket. *

Therefore it is my personal opinion that India would have toured Pakistan in anycase. Now if soemthing more serious happens on government level where god forbids diplomatic relations deteriorate and government of India tells BCCI against touring Pakistan then the situation will change. Only time will tell what lies in future for these 2 teams.