Pak-India cricket deadlock: 2008-2012 [Part 2]
Continued from Part 1 ...
Pakistan had toured India for a bilateral series in late 2007 (during which the hosts won the Tests 1-0, and the ODIs 3-2), and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mumbai-c820 attacks. Terrorists laid siege to Mumbai as a series of eleven coordinated attacks, involving shooting and bombing, were carried out across the city from November 26 to 29, leaving 164 dead, and around 308 injured. As the investigations into the matter proceeded, it was alleged by India that the terrorists came from Pakistan, where they had received training.
The attacks led to the rapid deterioration of all diplomatic ties between the two countries, and as always, cricket became one of the vehicles through which the strain in ties was expressed. On December 18, 2008, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) called off the 2009 tour of Pakistan, as per a directive from the Indian government which stated that the tour was not suitable “in the prevailing circumstances”. Speaking to ESPNCricinfo (then known as Cricinfo), BCCI vice-president Rajiv Shukla announced that India would be pulling out of the tour as per instructions from the foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee, and clarified that the prospect of staging the series at a neutral venue had not yet been considered.
The rift widened as the 2009 edition of the cash-rich Indian Premier League, which followed, saw players from Pakistan conspicuous only by their absence, despite having been fairly successful in the inaugural edition during 2008. In the editions that followed, with anti-Pakistan sentiment at an all-time high, Pakistani players did not get picked up by the IPL franchises, and while the players expressed their frustration and disappointment at having been excluded, the T20 tournament proceeded without them. Since then, Pakistani players have not featured in any of the IPL editions, from 2009 to 2012.
Pakistan’s hopes of hosting India for the reciprocal tour they owed their neighbours received a further blow in March 2009, in a startling event which shook the cricketing world and threw Pakistan’s status as a venue for international cricketing events into doubt. The touring Sri Lankan team, on their way to the Gaddafi stadium in Lahore for a Test match against Pakistan, came under attack from masked terrorists, who opened fire on the tour bus. Six policemen, and two civilians were killed, while Sri Lankan skipper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/NT-Paranavitana-c2132 were all injured in the attack.
The remainder of the tour was immediately cancelled and the Sri Lankan team were shifted to a nearby airbase, and flown back to Colombo in a chartered plane. Following the incident, international cricket in Pakistan came to a halt, and in April 2009, the country was stripped of their status as a co-host for the 2011 World Cup by the International Cricket Council (ICC) at an http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ICC-World-Cup-2011-c100625 board meeting in Dubai, owing to the “uncertain security situation”.
While then-http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ramiz-Hasan-Raja-c83872, expressed their regret at the ICC’s move, the decision held (Pakistan was later granted monetary compensation by the ICC). With Pakistan as a venue becoming increasingly isolated in the world of international cricket, things had never looked bleaker for Indo-Pak cricket, and the resumption of bilateral ties seemed highly unlikely.
Continued in Part 3 ...
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