Pakistan, we are told, is livid. So much so that interior affairs minister Rehman Malik has threatened that IPL matches will not be aired across the border. Pakistani authorities are also looking at options of pulling out of the hockey world cup scheduled to start in Delhi on February 28. The argument is that India has shown disrespect towards Pakistani sportspersons.
It is time we clear the air once and for all. It is a sad situation no doubt, but Indian sports fans or the IPL franchise owners have nothing against players from across the borders. They are top entertainers and we respect their credentials. The unfortunate reality is that the players are facing the heat because of the failure of the Pakistani establishment to respond to India?s concerns post-26/11. It is a classic scenario where sports and politics mix. In fact, they are bedfellows. Just as Pakistan is livid at the snub, we have been livid for over a year and a half at the lukewarm response to our concerns, albeit more significant, and at the inability to check terror outfits from using Pakistani soil to mount offensives in India. And it is this lack of certainty that India will not face the brunt of another offensive between now and March 12 that has pre-empted the franchise owners from picking a Pakistani star like Afridi.
Afridi, one of the best in the world, doesn?t come cheap. He would certainly have cost more than $7,50,000 available to each franchisee at the auction on the January 18. Having expended that kind of money, the least a franchise owner can expect is a guarantee that he?d have the services of his player for the entire duration of the IPL tournament. And it is this guarantee that continues to be elusive, given the incompetence of the political establishment across the border. While we revere cultural ambassadors like Afridi, love seeing them ply their skills, it is impossible not to be sensitive to the prevailing political situation in the sub-continent. And if an offensive does take place between now and April 25 (the day of the IPL final), the Pakistani players, more than anyone else, would find the going impossible against incessant barracking in almost all venues across the country. Their presence will add considerable tension to the matches, plague the franchise owners and create a real security problem for the organisers. Faced with such a scenario, the safety-first option has been preferred and justly so.
In sum, the cricketers are entirely incidental to this unfortunate development and have fallen victim to the vagaries of real politik.
The other interesting facet of this year?s auction is the price the young West Indian players have fetched. While Pollard has fetched an astronomical million plus dollars, Kemar Roach is also an unexpected millionaire. The obvious question is whether such prices are justified for relatively underexposed players who have little experience of playing in the sub-continent. While Pollard played well in the Champions League, Roach has no experience of bowling in sub-continental conditions. Yet, the success of Fidel Edwards in IPL-II may have prompted the Chargers to opt for the promising Roach. However, the conditions in India in March-April will be fundamentally different from South African conditions and it is to be seen if Roach does justice to the price he has commanded. In Pollard?s case, it is different. Having cleared the big Australian grounds with ease in the recently concluded KFC Big Bash, Pollard is expected to be a potential match-winner in the Mumbai middle order alongside JP Duminy.
However, the most controversial among the big picks is Shane Bond. Having been out of action for long periods for joining the ICL and having always been injury prone, Bond is a major risk that the Knights have taken. And with no Umar Gul in their ranks and with Ishant not in the best T-20 form, the Bond gamble might well decide the fate of the Knights in IPL III.
Perhaps the best bargain of the auction was Eoin Morgan and Thisera Perrera. From the little evidence we have at hand, Perrera can be explosive lower down the order and is an useful bowler to have in the mix, while Morgan is capable of winning you games single-handedly on his day, as was evident during the T-20?s England played against the Proteas in 2009. With the IPL still some time away, the heat is already on. After all, it is India?s only global sports brand.
?The writer is a cricket historian