Pakistan, Terror and Cricket resumption – Opinion
A country that has a rich history of cricket since its inception is at the crossroads of redefining history due to the tattered law and order situation that suffered heavily at the onset of the war against terror in the neighbouring http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Afghanistan-c745.
While it may not have had a direct affect on an average Pakistani, it has devastated the sports and tourists industry, and among them cricket is suffering the most.
Not until the 2009 terror attacks on the touring team of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758, the general perception was that terrorists were not targeting sporting teams, however, the attack in Lahore changed all that and Pakistan cricket has never been the same since.
Luckily for the country, the attacks were foiled, preventing any loss of Sri Lankan life. Nonetheless, the attacks convinced other nations that this was not an appropriate time to play in Pakistan.
The lack of home series has had its toll on the Greens, but in order to keep the show running, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has been quite active in arranging home series at neutral venues.
However, many in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 believe that the board should push hard to force other nations to tour Pakistan, while this might be termed as a patriotic gesture by many Pakistanis, it certainly isn’t the best option for the country.
The war on terror is still not over and with Pakistani forces fighting the terrorists on the Western Border, it certainly is not safe to even think of inviting foreigners to play.
People need to remember that it is not as if the Sri Lankans were without “fool proof” security, but even then their security blanket was penetrated – killing seven Pakistani security personnel.
While it may sound harsh, but the fact is that in order to avoid a catastrophic outcome of a home series, it is better to play abroad.
The players in the national team are pretty much aware of this bitter reality, but certain powers within Pakistan, have politicized the matter and are rooting for the resumption of international cricket without evaluating potential dangers.
The chairman Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Zaka http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ashraf-c46397, would be a lucky man if he manages to resume international cricket, however, he cannot afford to do this without actually considering all the worst case scenarios.
Some former players argue that teams from Afghanistan have toured the country and nothing bad happened, but the fact is that a terror attack on a small team from Afghanistan will never have the same magnitude when the team from the developed world would
come under attack.
The terrorists know this, and they are not going to waste precious ammunition on the Afghan cricket team, instead wait for bigger teams to drop by.
Pakistan’s case is extremely weak, but it is a blessing in disguise that the country is not hosting international cricket, because without solid security, the lives of the local fans and foreign players would be at risk.
The matter needs to be understood rationally instead of brining emotions into play. Pakistan is better-off without the resumption of international cricket until the war on terror officially comes to an end.
In the mean time, Pakistan needs to revamp its domestic cricket and raise the bar high enough to produce world class players in order to maintain their status in the cricketing world.
Disclaimer: Any views and opinions expressed in this article are solely of the author and do not represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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