http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 series and the Shiv Sena threat – Opinion
While the governments of both India and Pakistan have announced the resumption of bilateral ties, anti-Pakistan group based in India the Shiv Sena has criticised the move and threatened to disrupt the two T20 and three ODI series between the rival nations,
set to begin from 25 December.
The group has always opposed cricketing ties between the rivals, but their calls to boycott have been shot down in the past.
This time the situation is different, as after 9/11 extremism and intolerance has increased all over the world and since the Shiv Sena believes that Pakistan is behind the 2008 http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mumbai-c820 carnage, they are getting their message across better than ever before.
There is no doubt that many in India hold Pakistan directly responsible for the Mumbai attacks and are frustrated over Pakistan’s lack of acknowledgment to these accusations, as Pakistan has maintained that the state was not involved in anyway.
Global politics apart, Shiv Sena live by doing their politics over cricket. Their threats might actually mean something this time around.
And it would be a mistake to shun their calls for violence against the Pakistani team as according to media reports from India, Shiv Sena will organize protests at all venues hosting the India-Pakistan series.
The PCB has said that they are satisfied with the security arrangements for their players in India, however, they could have asked for even better arrangements just to be on the safe side in order to avoid any unlikely event.
Talking on the issue of the threats from the Sena, Pakistan team manager Naveed Akram Cheema had this to say:
“We are just focused on cricket and such threats are not worrying. All of them are determined to do well. It’s a big occasion and we are looking forward to a positive cricket.”
Meanwhile, the board should also be keeping the security of their players as the top priority and send the BCCI a clear message in this regard.
Let us not forget that the terrorists in this decade have learned to target cricket as the touring team from http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 was ambushed in Pakistan back in 2009, however, the tourists luckily escaped unharmed and avoided, to some extent, an international embarrassment
for Pakistan.
Nonetheless, Pakistan is still healing from the wounds of that incident, as international cricket has dried out, where foreign nations have bluntly refused to play in Pakistan due to the evident threats to them.
With these growing insecurities, Pakistan and India cannot afford an incident during this confidence building series.
Perhaps putting a few members behind bars during the series would help in giving a stern message to the right wing party.
Meanwhile, players from both sides look all set to go at each other in a bilateral tournament after almost five years.
India are in a confident position to play Pakistan in the T20s as they have won twice and never lost to their neighbours. On the other hand, Pakistan need to start the series on a winning note in order to put the hosts under pressure right from the get go.
An early victory by Pakistan would impose extreme pressure on India, and since they are already feeling the heat after losing to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013, a loss against Pakistan would be the final coffin in the careers of most of their aging players.
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