India crushes Pakistan, but off-field drama steals spotlight

With India crushing the Pakistan cricket team on Sunday it is the offthefield action that has ignited a firestorm rather than the analysis of what was a tepid onesided matchCol Utkarsh Rathore Retd who was commissioned into the Indian Army in 1980 commanded the 17 Maratha Light Infantry battalion during Operation Parakram mobilisation of which took place after the Indian Parliament terror attack said ldquoAnimosity between India and Pakistan is extremely deeprooted It of course stems from a very serious issue the export of terrorism by Pakistan This has escalated sporadicallyhellip the terror attack and subsequently Operation Sindoor which cost the country livesrdquoAn undercurrentCol Rathore rationalised ldquoPut a finger on the pulse of the nation prematch and one could feel there was an undercurrent that we should not play against Pakistan The BCCI we are told is bound by the ICC laws and has to respect the international calendar We also learnt that the match referee was informed prior there would be no handshake In response Pakistan also stayed away from the postmatch presentation Why crib nowrdquoThe colonel reminded that India had not played Pakistan in the World Championship of Legends earlier The veteransrsquo cricket match between India and Pakistan scheduled in the World Championship of Legends in Birmingham in July had been cancelled after Indian players withdrew citing the Pahalgam terror attack ldquoAt that time Shahid Afridi had a lot of bad things to say about India Let me say this clearly Pakistan is the last country in the world to be teaching others courtesy or to be gentlemanlyrdquoPressure neededInstead the colonel suggested ldquoThe Pakistan Cricket Board should pressurise their leadersgovernment to address concerns and stamp out this terror as they are being insulted in all international forums Will we see that happening No I do not think sordquoHaving said that the colonel added that the country needs a policy that includes the playing against Pakistan aspect factored in ldquoThink about what is going through the mind of our soldier standing on the border He thinks here I am standing guard on the border while our players are playing against Pakistan That is why we need a clear policy The Government of India should also mull over this issue seriously How can you play cricket with a nation with whom we had a major military showdown We lost the lives of soldiers and civilians We donrsquot have diplomatic trade and other relations This posture of convenience must stop till Pakistan mends its waysrdquoThe philosophyCol Tej K Tikoo Retd added ldquoI was happy that they did not shake hands Yet this controversy needs a much larger look First that we should not have played in the first place I understand that we do not play bilateral series but then why play this too It is not as if Pakistan is going to mend its ways Their philosophy is to bleed India with a thousand cuts They also threaten continually that they are a nuclear power and scare people They say if we go down we will take half the world with us There is a limit to what India can do even with warOn the sports field there have been a number of international events where opponents have not shaken hands I also do not agree with the argument that this is an ICC event and we had to play But then if you are going by the ICC norms shaking hands is also decided by the ICCrdquoLt Col M K Choudhury Retd said ldquoWe must respect the governmentrsquos decision It was decided to play against Pakistan and we did defeating the Pak cricket team in the most emphatic manner As for not shaking hands I know there are a lot of theories about who instructed the team etc but in the end it is the captainrsquos prerogative I think our captain has done the right thing with this gesture Pakistan also knows that the world is watching We need to stand united behind our people and understand that befitting answers are being given by IndiardquoJulyMonth Indian players refused to play Pakistan at World Championship of Legends tournament in Birmingham