Cricket in times of terror

It has been a few days since the Mumbai terror attacks shook the country, but it is hard for one to forget those heart wrenching images.

Vaibhav Arora

It has been a few days since the deadly terror attacks in Mumbai shook the country and left thousands of lives scarred for ever, but it is hard for one to forget those heart wrenching images of the Taj burning and blood spilled across the floor of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus.Any talks of financial losses suffered as a result of the cancellation of the ongoing cricket series in the country or how the England team should return for the Test series later in December may seem minuscule and selfish in view of the massive losses suffered by the nation. That the England team should have left for home, leaving the one-day series midway, should not be questioned as the cricketers are expected to display their heroics on the playing field and not in a ‘war-zone’. Sport is not bigger than life and any amount of financial incentive cannot and should not force athletes to risk their lives. The administrators of the game should also take their thoughts away from minting money and playing selfish power games and respect the decision of the foreign players. Even if some players refuse to return to India to honour their commitment of the Test series, it would not be much of a surprise considering the state in which the tourists left for home. The Mumbai incident will have serious implications on the game of cricket and what we have just witnessed in the form of the cancellation of the England one-day series may just be the tip of the iceberg. India’s tour of Pakistan is in serious jeopardy and will, almost certainly, be called off. The organisers of the Champions League may not find suitable dates to reschedule the tournament any time soon in future and countries like Australia, who have honoured their commitments of playing in India in the past in spite of repeated terror attacks, may finally pull out. Some would argue that England players should come back to India to play in the Test series to defy terror and show the perpetrators of these heinous acts that people will not be cowed down by such dastardly acts, but the truth is that the situation in India is tense and continuation of the tour may result in further deterioration of the state of affairs in case any untoward incident were to happen with the tourists. Assurances from security agencies have served little purpose in comforting the English players, especially keeping in mind the terrible intelligence and security failure witnessed in Mumbai. There is also an argument of how the game has never stopped because of the cowardly acts of a few- even after the assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984 or the London terror attacks in 2005 when cricket tours went ahead successfully. But the situation was different then- on previous occasions a particular group of individuals has never been targeted. Eye witness accounts of the Mumbai attack have revealed that the terrorists were specifically looking for foreign nationals. In that sense, the November 26 attacks have taken terror to a new level where not only the armed forces or the people living on the streets are the victims, but also the people and places that were considered ‘safe’ until now. Sport sure serves as a medium to unite people in a time of crisis, but what is the purpose of having a set of 22 cricketers on the field when each of whom has plenty other on his mind than just cricket. Where is the joy of the game then? The dictators of the game in India, of course, have more than just the game on their minds. Millions of dollars are at stake on the cricket tournaments scheduled in India in the next few months, most of which have come under threat post the Mumbai attacks. Though a resumption of the England tour would mean a stern reply to the perpetrators of terror and show a sign of world solidarity for the country in it’s hour of crisis, the final decision on whether to return or not, should be that of the players and no one should be forced to do something under pressure from any quarter. Even if a number of players decide not to return, their decision should be respected- both by the boards and the public. Terror will eventually not be able to pull us down and cricket will definitely return to India with fans cheering their favourite stars in a jam packed Wankhede, but it will take some time, given the enormity of what we have just witnessed in the financial capital of the country. Let’s hope that time comes soon…