Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Figure this out. Eleven Pakistani men,most of them members of the squad that won the 2009 Twenty20 world championship,were among the cricketers up for auction. Eight franchisees of the Indian Premier League were looking to add punch to their teams in season three,exuding the enticing mix of glamour,guile and strategising thats made the auction the IPLs most self-celebratory event. It is a moment when the older ethos of cricket,based on the domestic and international calendars,is contrasted with the
go-getting flamboyance of the IPL franchisees,all too often a moment when the future reveals itself. On Tuesday,when a bunch of cricketers including the 11 Pakistanis went under the hammer,that possible future revealed itself to be heartless. On that day not one of the 11 Pakistanis,each of whom was up for auction because each had been considered by at least one franchisee in the preparatory stage,received a single bid.
However,none of that rationalisation lets anyone off the hook,not the governments,not the IPL,not the franchisees. Each in its own way has damaged the special place cricket has held during even the worst phases in India-Pakistan ties. Many times cricket between India and Pakistan has been suspended,but never has one country insulted the others cricketers. And whenever cricketers have been asked to prop up normalisation efforts,they have gamely obliged. Even if it be that no one explicitly set off Tuesdays outrage,the result has damaged the game. Again it has been shown that cricket,with all the qualities and messages that attach to it,is not safe with the IPL.
