TERRORISED CRICKET

The Sri Lankan cricket team’s convoy was attacked by terrorists, thanks to the so called full proof security that the Pakistan Government had provided them with. It came as a shocker to the whole world when these cricketers were attacked by merciless terrorists! It’s undoubtedly the bloodiest day in the history of cricket. Lankan cricketers in their wildest of dreams wouldn’t have thought of something like that. Luckily they escaped with minor injuries. They went to Pakistan to play cricket when no other team agreed to visit Pakistan. Sri Lankans were truly the ambassadors of goodwill. They were obviously there to face deliveries and not bullets.

The first few questions that came to my mind were – Where was the security? Why there was no bullet proof team bus? And of course why weren’t those terrorists caught? These questions will go unanswered but it’s necessary to find answers. I still wonder how these stonehearted terrorists could just walk to the team bus carrying so many weapons and open fire at the visiting team! I always agreed with Mr. Imran Khan, the former Pakistan cricket captain, that terrorists would never attack cricket in the sub-continent for a simple reason that cricket is a religion here. But unfortunately that was not to be.

Team India was supposed to tour Pakistan but they chose otherwise. The team is glad that they are not there and so are millions of Indians but our heart goes out for the Lankan team. The whole cricket fraternity is terrified after what happened to the Lankan team. In fact the whole world is.

Where does cricket in Pakistan go from here? The answer is nowhere. Cricket in Pakistan will surely come to a standstill at least for a few years now. And they’ve got nobody but themselves to blame for this situation. If they had provided top grade security as they had promised there was some hope for cricket in Pakistan. But what concerns me is the IPL. A few cricketers have already raised questions about the IPL and why not, there lives are more important than cricket itself. And no cricketer would like to risk his life. Situation in India is not as bad as in Pakistan but it isn’t too good either. I’m afraid there will be a very few teams touring the sub-continent especially after the tragic incident in Lahore. I’m an optimist and I believe that the IPL will go on as scheduled. Let’s all pray for peace and hope that the IPL will be a grand success and wish that Cricket moves on.