It is not necessary to be a former International Cricket player or even an expert in Cricket to realize that what the Indian Cricket team did at the end of his match with Pakistan in the Asia Cup simply was not Cricket.
Many arguments can be used against the unsportsmanlike behavior of the Indian team. Let’s start with the most obvious observations: if you are going to boycott the sports team of another country, do it completely, do not play at all. But if you have decided to play the game against what you have considered an enemy country, do it as if it were a sport and not a war. And at least in the Cricket, which includes the tremor of the hands of opposition team once a match ends.
India seems to have conveniently forgot that not a country in the world, not even its ancient allies, bought its narrative that Pakistan or any person or linked to Pakistan was behind Pahalgam’s attack. In fact, Pakistan even offered to be part of an integral investigation into the matter, as long as it was carried out by an independent and neutral party.
As for the comments of the Indian Captain T20 Suryakumar Yadav to the media at the ceremony after the game, if he is so committed to playing in the war battery galleries, then perhaps he should leave the Cricket, which remains a sport, and join the Indian army.
Despite not presenting an apex of evidence, something that even the main opposition parties of India admitted, the BJP government carried out an attack against Pakistan in which many precious lives were lost and there were public and private damage.
India was certainly not the victim in this, but the frustrated aggressor. In fact, this is out of Israel’s play book, which used exactly the same justification after attacking Qatar. He painted himself as a victim and said he was only trying to attack those who had attacked him, conveniently forgetting the tens of thousands of Palestinians, including thousands of children, who has killed Gaza in the last two years.
This is not all. The way in which the main Indian media hit the Jingoistic feeling and the way in which some well -known news presenters of Indian television made fun of former Indian Cricket players for “not speaking against the game” was absurd, and that puts it softly.
It was absurd because they were not former Indian Crick players like Sourav Ganguly or Rahul Dravid who gave him the approval for the Indian Cricket team to play the game, but the BJP government itself. And here were the main Indian media, generally known as ‘Godi Media’ for being in Modi’s lap, ignoring that fact and making fun of the former Indian Cricket players for not taking a position. They also overlooked the fact that the Cricket Control Board in India (BCCI) is generally administered by an individual seen so close to the ruling party.
In contrast to that, despite the fact that Pakistan was attacked without India presenting any proof of his participation in Pahalgam’s attack, and although he beat the Indian Air Force by shooting so many seven of his combat planes, including three precious raffles, Pakistan’s media did not beat any war drums or asked their Cricket players to play with India. Nor did he ask the Pakistan government to prevent the National Cricket team from playing India, which rightly suggests that sport and politics do not or should be mixed.
After the match, the Cricket Board of Pakistan correctly filed a complaint with the International Cricket Council (ICC), asking him to keep the Indian team in violation of the code of conduct, which also stipulates that the members of the opposite teams shake hands after the end of a game.
Of course, since the CPI is generally considered completely subordinated to the whims of the Cricket Board of India and since the ICC is now being directed by Jay Shah, who is the son of the Indian Interior Minister, Amit Shah, it is very unlikely that the CPI acts on Pakistan’s complaint.
The actions of India Cricket players have taken the Crickt game in description and have also lowered their own stature to the eyes of the Cricket world. Several former Cricket players, as well as commentators and journalists who cover the sport, have been unequivocally condemned by the rejection of the Indian Cricket team to shake the hand of the Pakistani team after their match.
This has shown that India is a country that cannot separate sports politics and that is also incapable or does not want to respect its opponents. After all, even in a war, an honorable soldier would show respect to a worthy adversary.
Discharge of responsibility: The views expressed in this piece are that of writer and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of PakGazette.TV.
The writer is a journalist based in Karachi. The Tweets/Public @omar_quraishi and can be contacted at: [email protected]
