What sort of a reception is planned for the Indian team when it arrives in Lahore? I would imagine a very low key one. Not that the warmth of welcome will be missing but the security will be so tight that the airport will be closed for all practical purposes and the aircraft carrying the team will be parked at some desolate bay, far from the terminal building. The team will be whisked away in a coach to the hotel. I would guess that the road from the airport to the hotel will be closed to traffic. According to the IGP of Punjab, 2,300 policemen will be deployed for security detail, which does not include the plainclothesmen from other law-enforcing agencies and special squads from the Crime Investigating Department. ‘‘Let me give an assurance that foolproof security measures have been taken to provide full protection to our Indian guests’’, says the police chief. This assurance is cold comfort for the cricket fans who generally throng the hotel lobbies to catch a glimpse of visiting players, get autographs and engineer a hand-shake. This kind of interaction will be missing. Our newspapers are buzzing with reports that Priyanka and Rahul Gandhi will be in Karachi to watch the first ODI. An earlier report had Sonia Gandhi also coming. Any number of stars from Bollywood including Aishwarya Rai and Shah Rukh Khan are mentioned in the dispatches. The PCB sternly denies that they will be its guests to forestall any criticism from our own stars of Lollywood who must make their own arrangements if they want to see the cricket matches or be seen at them. There are to be no complimentary passes and the orders have come from the patron of the cricket board, General Pervez Musharraf. Complimentary passes have formed a part of our cricket culture and were sought, indeed, demanded, by precisely those persons who could easily afford to buy tickets. The local authorities in Karachi have declared a public holiday for the Karachi ODI. Totally unnecessary, for no one was planning to go to work or school. Those lucky enough to get tickets will be at the ground, all others will be seated in front of television sets. No political party could have achieved such a total hartal. Never, in the many years that I have followed cricket, have I seen such enthusiasm which borders on madness. When the tickets were put up for sale, thousands of cricket fans showed up the National Stadium, there was near pandemonium, the police went on a lathi-charging spree and the media accused the PCB of mismanagement. Those who were able to get tickets, waved them about triumphantly and, had they been allowed to do so, would have done a lap of honour. As it is, some hopped about, as if doing a victory dance. It is all quiet on the cricket front. The training camp has been shifted from Lahore to Karachi and practice matches are planned. The squad selected has been accepted without any dissent and the customary sniping. The consensus is that the selectors have done an honest job. Television has made the viewers cricket experts and everyone has his or her point of view. Those who used to be distant devotees have become intimate members of the cricket family. Even staid and high-brow newspapers carry letters from readers expressing their strong opinions on cricket matters including a good deal of advice to Inzamam-ul Haq, the Pakistan captain, on how he should use his strike-bowlers, Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami and what the batting order should be. Just as well that Inzamam is not a great reader of newspapers, he would be a thoroughly confused man. There is a festive mood in Pakistan. No one, as yet, is talking about winning or losing. For the time being, the simple fact that cricket ties are being resumed is victory enough for both people. What is even more hopeful is that we are looking forward to Indian visitors who will be arriving in droves. They will get a chance to see Pakistan for themselves and they will be struck by the affection with which they will be received. I know that I was, whenever I visited India with the cricket team. Cricket seems to bring out the best in us. The bridge that cricket builds is a golden gate.
