... that it would come to this.
Following the Lahore attack, there is now a distinct possibility that the IPL might not happen this year, with several foreign players and officials expressing their discomfort at the security situation in the subcontinent. It's not just about Lahore either, apparently. The unease existed right from the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai.
Now even the 2011 World Cup, scheduled to be held in the subcontinent, is under doubt.
I want to be cynical of the players expressing their doubts, I want to assert that something like Lahore can never happen in India, I want to sneer and laugh and pray. But yesterday's incident proved that cricket is far from immune to terrorism, and I still get the chills everytime I involuntarily imagine the Indian team in the Sri Lankans' position. Could this sort of thing happen in India? Maybe maybe yeah. Well.
Hell yeah.
Already there was talk of an IPL postponement before all of this, with the Home Minister suggesting the IPL clashing with the general elections might be a bad thing. While methinks he may have a point, I merely laughed and laughed when I first heard of it, because hello? Postponement of IPL might as well be translated into cancellation of the season, and that? Was so not going to happen.
Except now it actually might.
The players' attitudes (outside of India, particularly outside the subcontinent) regarding the IPL have always baffled, amused and mostly irritated me (because, hello, gleefully signing up for large amounts of money on one hand, and then taking some sort of perverse pleasure in extolling the Evils of Indian Money in Cricket on the other? So not on), and with this thrown into the mix, things have gotten a whole lot more complicated.
I can only somehow naively hope for restoration of some normalcy, because, dammit I want to see some IPL action this summer. I don't want to see cricket as a whole suffering from this, because the subcontinent? A pretty large chunk of land providing a pretty large chunk of cricket watching and playing population.
I don't even know anymore, and damn if I'm not getting overly melodramatic.
Not for the first time, I follow and love this game way more than I should be.
But... damn.
Showing posts with label terrorism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label terrorism. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
And so it happens
We won today. Dhoni top-scored, man of the match, NZ steam-rollered. I should be ecstatic, but I'm not.
Why?
LAHORE, Pakistan, March 3 (Reuters) - Six members of the Sri Lankan cricket squad were wounded when around a dozen gunmen attacked their bus as it drove under police escort on Tuesday to a stadium in the Pakistani city of Lahore, witnesses and officials said.
Lahore Police chief Habib-ur-Rehman said five people were killed in the attack by the unidentified gunmen, who fired AK 47s and rockets and hurled grenades as the team bus drove to the 60,000-seater Gaddafi stadium in the eastern city.
Sri Lanka's sports minister said five players and an assistant coach were wounded, two of whom were being treated in hospital.
Horrible. The Sri Lankan team went to Pakistan when nobody else was willing to, as a gesture of peace, to prove to the rest of the world that Pakistan was indeed a safe place to play cricket. And this is what they get. Sick.
Thankfully none of the players were seriously wounded, but six policemen died, taking the brunt of the attack.
Nobody's going to think of setting foot in Pakistan for cricket for some time now.
Just, just. So sad. And so sick.
My prayers are with those affected.
Why?
LAHORE, Pakistan, March 3 (Reuters) - Six members of the Sri Lankan cricket squad were wounded when around a dozen gunmen attacked their bus as it drove under police escort on Tuesday to a stadium in the Pakistani city of Lahore, witnesses and officials said.
Lahore Police chief Habib-ur-Rehman said five people were killed in the attack by the unidentified gunmen, who fired AK 47s and rockets and hurled grenades as the team bus drove to the 60,000-seater Gaddafi stadium in the eastern city.
Sri Lanka's sports minister said five players and an assistant coach were wounded, two of whom were being treated in hospital.
Horrible. The Sri Lankan team went to Pakistan when nobody else was willing to, as a gesture of peace, to prove to the rest of the world that Pakistan was indeed a safe place to play cricket. And this is what they get. Sick.
Thankfully none of the players were seriously wounded, but six policemen died, taking the brunt of the attack.
Nobody's going to think of setting foot in Pakistan for cricket for some time now.
Just, just. So sad. And so sick.
My prayers are with those affected.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
A moment of sobriety
For a change, this post ain't going to be snarky, or about fangirling.
This be tough times, for me personally, and for the world in general. Obviously cricket has not been spared.
I refer to the atrocities that happened in Mumbai over a week ago, their ramifications on everything and cricket. Being in Chennai, where a cyclone-induced rainstorm around the same time as the Mumbai attacks moored all residents at home with no electricity and telephone for large tracts of time, I was largely cut off from what was happening. In fact, the internet connections and mobile phone signals went down in my college hostel, so I had almost no way of knowing what was happening outside the confines of the campus, other than the times I could get contrasting snippets of information from my classmates travelling from the city. It was a scary period - and I thought I would tear my hair out. Finally the rain ceased and I could go home and it was with horror that I updated myself on all that had happened. I've never been to Mumbai, as such, but the city's such a symbol and to have such prominent places infiltrated and torn asunder with so much human loss had my gut clench.
What in the world is happening.
Could Chennai be subjected to something like that in the future? Lord, no.
Thoughts eventually turned to cricket, and I couldn't have agreed more with the decision to cancel the last 2 ODIs in the 7 match series. It might've prevented us from drubbing the English 7-0, but hello? Cricket not high on the list of priorities at that time. I was fairly sure that the Test series would be cancelled as well - whatever the lure of money, already subcontinent-phobic players would jump at the excuse to avoid the tour and risk their lives further - but some typical BCCI-an wrangling managed to get the tour back on track. That said, I sincerely applaud the English players' decision - whatever be the motivation - to come back and play the two Tests, as compared to say, the Australians, who even on the best of days describe India as a war-zone to get through in one piece.
The venues have been changed, and Chennai will host the first Test. Unfortunately I can't attend the match, but I'm happy that we're hosting some international cricket. The players apparently are ensconced in uber-security arrangements, but hopefully when they take the field, cricket will once again take centre-stage, and people can enjoy a well-contested match, even among all the fear and chaos. KP and Dhoni have already come out with the right words and gestures, and all that remains is for the cricket to start, and to gauge crowd reactions and the mood and the situation. India will probably not become a Pakistan-esque cricket pariah, but international players are going to feel a trifle nervous before stepping onto Indian shores. Or maybe not for long. Let's see.
Of course, talk about Chennai and cricket is never complete without a word on the weather. We're well into our monsoon, and another cyclone threat - albeit a weakened one - over the next few days could mean a truncated game and another disappointment. It's been sunny over the last 36 hours - but that doesn't mean anything, 'cos all you need to trigger rain in Chennai even in the middle of one of our tortuous summers, is to schedule an international match. I'm sounding bitter? Check out the records for yourselves.
India enter the match as obvious favourites, but you never know. Minds are addled, the situation ain't quite the same, and England have always been a better Test side than an ODI one. It could shape out to be an interesting series, but my prediction is India'll take it 1-0.
It's these kind of horrors that forces a moment of sobriety in all of us, I guess. Introspection, reassessment, a press for unity. Hopefully cricket - and the world, in general - will be better for it.
This be tough times, for me personally, and for the world in general. Obviously cricket has not been spared.
I refer to the atrocities that happened in Mumbai over a week ago, their ramifications on everything and cricket. Being in Chennai, where a cyclone-induced rainstorm around the same time as the Mumbai attacks moored all residents at home with no electricity and telephone for large tracts of time, I was largely cut off from what was happening. In fact, the internet connections and mobile phone signals went down in my college hostel, so I had almost no way of knowing what was happening outside the confines of the campus, other than the times I could get contrasting snippets of information from my classmates travelling from the city. It was a scary period - and I thought I would tear my hair out. Finally the rain ceased and I could go home and it was with horror that I updated myself on all that had happened. I've never been to Mumbai, as such, but the city's such a symbol and to have such prominent places infiltrated and torn asunder with so much human loss had my gut clench.
What in the world is happening.
Could Chennai be subjected to something like that in the future? Lord, no.
Thoughts eventually turned to cricket, and I couldn't have agreed more with the decision to cancel the last 2 ODIs in the 7 match series. It might've prevented us from drubbing the English 7-0, but hello? Cricket not high on the list of priorities at that time. I was fairly sure that the Test series would be cancelled as well - whatever the lure of money, already subcontinent-phobic players would jump at the excuse to avoid the tour and risk their lives further - but some typical BCCI-an wrangling managed to get the tour back on track. That said, I sincerely applaud the English players' decision - whatever be the motivation - to come back and play the two Tests, as compared to say, the Australians, who even on the best of days describe India as a war-zone to get through in one piece.
The venues have been changed, and Chennai will host the first Test. Unfortunately I can't attend the match, but I'm happy that we're hosting some international cricket. The players apparently are ensconced in uber-security arrangements, but hopefully when they take the field, cricket will once again take centre-stage, and people can enjoy a well-contested match, even among all the fear and chaos. KP and Dhoni have already come out with the right words and gestures, and all that remains is for the cricket to start, and to gauge crowd reactions and the mood and the situation. India will probably not become a Pakistan-esque cricket pariah, but international players are going to feel a trifle nervous before stepping onto Indian shores. Or maybe not for long. Let's see.
Of course, talk about Chennai and cricket is never complete without a word on the weather. We're well into our monsoon, and another cyclone threat - albeit a weakened one - over the next few days could mean a truncated game and another disappointment. It's been sunny over the last 36 hours - but that doesn't mean anything, 'cos all you need to trigger rain in Chennai even in the middle of one of our tortuous summers, is to schedule an international match. I'm sounding bitter? Check out the records for yourselves.
India enter the match as obvious favourites, but you never know. Minds are addled, the situation ain't quite the same, and England have always been a better Test side than an ODI one. It could shape out to be an interesting series, but my prediction is India'll take it 1-0.
It's these kind of horrors that forces a moment of sobriety in all of us, I guess. Introspection, reassessment, a press for unity. Hopefully cricket - and the world, in general - will be better for it.
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