‘No politics, only cricket please’

Of course, the Pakistan management has put up a brave face, trying to tell the world that tomorrow’s clash at the Nehru Stadium is just another match. But there’s a constant murmur in the air: is the tour really on? Will the situation back home in Pakistan have an impact on the morale of Shoaib Akhtar and the rest of the contingent?

“See, please don’t ask him any questions on the political situation in both the countries. We are all here just to play cricket. We are going to focus only on that. You can proceed now,” Pakistan team’s media manager Ehsan Malik’s stern words at the start of skipper Shoaib Malik’s pre-match press interaction was a straight give-away—showing how serious proportions the matter has already taken.

The ensuing interaction was purely cricketing, of course, Malik playing out the usual “looking forward” stuff. But it was all too obvious that the Pakistanis were trying too hard to show that it’s just another day in office.

Interestingly, Malik’s counterpart MS Dhoni was a little less stiff when confronted with the big issue. “It’s up to them now (the Pakistani players). We will see how mentally strong they are tomorrow,” the Indian skipper said when asked if the Emergency drama will affect the visitors ahead of tomorrow’s ODI.

In fact, the Pakistan think-tank’s last-moment decision to go through a practice session at the Nehru Stadium ground appears to have been prompted by the visitors’ eagerness in trying to show that things are normal.

After a two-hour standard session at the nets, Akhtar was seen happily chatting away with his counterparts Zaheer Khan and S Sreesanth. So were Harbhajan Singh and Mohammad Yousuf.

But even as the players from the warring camps were hanging out in the fading light, one could feel that no matter how the circus of cricket tries to deny it, this isn’t just another match of cricket.