Should India Refuse To Play Pakistan @Cricketworldcup2019?

Sporting events are peace time activities though they have usually been under threat of disruption from terrorists. Actions of terrorists during sporting events are cowardly attacks on non-war structures. Possible disruptions of such events are unfortunately planned for their high-visibility to affect people-morale at low-costs.

International Governing Bodies of Games and Sports are voluntary bodies which have been bestowed the autonomy to manage the interest and purpose of their respective Games and Sports. These bodies draw their authority from the support extended to them by their members. Such Governing Bodies get their relevance by regulating the standards and organization of events thereby sustaining the magnificence of respective Games and Sports. Any exhibition of their failure to manage such standards and events can demean and disrupt the very existence of such Governing Bodies. Any failure of the governing bodies is a failure of the members and tarnishes the glory of the sport.

After the event has been announced and participation confirmed, if due to any reasons, any disruption is caused to the event, it affects the event, the authority of the governing association, the competitive spirit of the sportspersons and the glory of the sport. When such disruptions are caused by a member country for political reasons, alienation of such country from other member countries is likely besides being unfair towards the sportspersons, the organisers of the event and the governing body of the sport.

In the heat of seething anger, driven by nationalistic fervour, following the Pakistan’s involvement in the February 14 suicide bombing in Pulwama that killed 40 paramilitary soldiers, India has already disrupted the event of International Shooting Sport Federation by refusing visas to Pakistani shooters last week. This disruption came while other 500 athletes from 61 countries participating in other events were already in India for their competition. In the past, India had refused a visa to a boxer from Kosovo to take part in the women's world championships in the New Delhi because India did not recognise Kosovo as a state. There was a similar incident ahead of the Rio Olympics, when the IOC had revoked Olympic qualification status of the Asian Shooting Championship in November 2015 after Kuwait refused to grant visa to an Israeli delegate. Malaysia, too, was recently stripped of the hosting rights for the World Para Swimming Championship after denying visa to Israelis. In all such incidents, the respective sporting event, the organisers and the international governing body and the local governing body were embarrassed while no substantive diplomatic or political gains accrued to anyone.

At this time there is an insistence from some quarters that India should refuse playing against Pakistan at the ICC-World Cup to be held in England from May 30, 2018. Leaving out the political opinions, Gavaskar and Tendulkar want India to play while the Skipper, Kohli, would like to be guided by the government. The Committee of Administrators of BCCI has thrown the ball in the court of the Indian government to decide.

There are different facets of the likely decisions. ICC World Cup 2019 tournament will be played from 30 May to 14 July 2019. The format for the tournament will be a single group of ten teams, with each team playing the other nine teams, and the top four teams progressing to a knockout stage of semi-finals and a final. Thus there will be 45 matches between the teams leading to the selection of top four while the other six will be knocked out of the tournament. Two semi finals will follow – one between rank 1 and 4 and the other between rank 2 and 3. The losing teams at the semi-finals will be knocked out of the tournament. Winners from the two semi-finals shall play the finals. Including the 2 semi-finals and a final, there will be 48 matches in all. The fixture list for the tournament was released on 26 April 2018 after the completion of an International Cricket Council (ICC) meeting in Kolkata.

If India decides not to play Pakistan at the World Cup, the first disruption would be of the 22^nd ODI scheduled for 16 June 2019 at 3.00 pm GMT. Pakistan will get a walkover amounting to India conceding defeat. For this match, Pak will get two points and India zero. Of course, the spectators and broadcasters shall seek refunds and the organisers shall face a harrowing time.

Next, should the tournament so unfold that India and Pakistan reach the top four. There is a great likelihood that they may have to meet to play the semi-finals or the finals. Will India again not play Pakistan? Can ICC world Cup Champion be decided by a walk-over? Well India can again decide not to play but such refusal shall not show India any positively to the world sporting community and sports lovers.

If India really does not want to play Pakistan, she should ask for deletion of Pakistan from the tournament or India can choose to withdraw from World Cup 2019. If India withdraws, yes, a 48 match tournament may have to be re-jigged to 39 match tournament but the semi-finals or the finals shall not be disrupted. The spectators and broadcasters shall seek refunds and the organisers shall possibly face more irksome time but the dent to the glory of Cricket and the tournament would be less damning.

If however, India decides to play Pakistan as has been scheduled and decided, the organisers, spectators, broadcasters, audiences, players, everyone will heave a sigh of relief but the politicians will create a ruckus in India.  The fall out of the decision to play Pak would not end with politicking.

The first match is still more than 9-weeks away. What could happen between India and Pakistan on the political, diplomatic, economic, or military front is very uncertain. The developments in Indo-Pak relations would have different repercussions and emotions. Presuming the most peaceful scenario where no further coercive military action is taken by India against Pakistan during this period, the match of 16 June will turn into a highly emotional visible battle between India and Pak. Should India win the match, team-India shall earn all the accolades and medallions from Indian public. If however, should India lose, and God-forbid, should India lose to Pakistan at Semi-final or final, Team-India would be seen as having let the country down and face intense emotional outbursts and brickbats.  The jingoistic Indians will make life hell for the players in the Indian team.

Breaking bi-lateral relations can always be a unilateral decision but breaking multi-lateral relations is not the same. India can unilaterally choose to withdraw from any multi-lateral relation but should not disrupt a bilateral engagement in a multilateral arrangement. In principle, if India chooses to use sports as a tool for dealing with Pakistan, then by all means it should seek ouster of Pakistan from the memberships and events of the International Governing Bodies of Sports. The apartheid regime of South Africa had resulted into Cricket South Africa being banned. A terror/rouge regime of Pakistan should result into Cricket Pakistan being banned. Any of such actions shall only be prospective.

However India should not reorder or disrupt multi-lateral sporting events once they have been finalised. Such dislocation is not sportsmanship or sportsmen-spirit; and not even good diplomacy or deed.

Will Team-India be able to handle the aftermath of a defeat at the hands of Pakistan in the tournament is not a trivial risk.

Watch out Virat Kohli; you are going to be at the coal face of reality when the moment of truth arrives.

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