Game Supremacy

SHOULD INDIA PLAY Pakistan in the Asia Cup? Should India have boycotted the game? Is there a right or wrong in there, and can you judge someone’s patriotism by it? The truth is the decision has been taken by the government and there is a certain logic to it.

The government has said that India will play Pakistan in multination events. Not just in cricket but across sport. Not that the government wants India to play Pakistan. But when you are using sport as soft power, there are certain norms of sport governance that you must adhere to. India aspires to host the Commonwealth Games and the Olympics. And to do so, India has to make sure that it doesn’t give Pakistan the chance to go crying foul to the international community that if India hosts the Olympics, Pakistan wouldn’t have a chance to participate. In such a scenario, the Indian bid will be compromised. By boycotting Pakistan, we would have helped Pakistan mount a campaign against India in international forums.

And why is it that people are only concerned about men’s cricket? Take the world athletics championships, for example. Going by the boycott logic, should Neeraj Chopra withdraw from Tokyo if Arshad Nadeem participates? Or in the women’s World Cup, which is being hosted by India, should India boycott the Pakistan game? In the world shooting championship, should the Indians withdraw just because Pakistan shooters are in the fray? By this logic, every Indian athlete will have to withdraw if there is a Pakistani athlete in contention.

The government’s stand is the only logical solution to the Pakistan problem. We don’t want to play Pakistan. We know they are perpetrators of multiple attacks on Indian soil. We also know we need to engage with them internationally and play them at global events. That suits our global ambitions. Pakistan can never host the Olympics. India can. To allow Pakistan to scuttle our ambitions is to play into their hands. That’s what the government has tried to avoid.

Also, the point needs to be made that by playing Pakistan or reporting on it
no one becomes a lesser patriot. When Suryakumar Yadav walks out to toss with Salman Ali Agha, he doesn’t become a lesser patriot than anyone else. Or for that matter, if someone like me reports on the game, we don’t love our country less. If I don’t report the geopolitical significance attached to the
game and if I don’t report why the government is allowing India to play Pakistan, I am doing a disservice to the profession and to my own work. India-Pakistan cricket is no celebration. It is a geopolitical necessity for India and it is our job to report it.

Sport is about soft power, about global diplomacy and more. If India plays Pakistan in the Asia Cup, the Government of India doesn’t make money. If India-Pakistan doesn’t happen in the women’s World Cup, no one will lose thousands of crores. Rather, by not playing Pakistan, we would have empowered them to launch an attack against us for violating the norms of the international charter that governs global sport.

India ought to use sport to advance its ambitions. Anything done to the contrary is going to hurt our own interests. That’s what explains the government’s decision on Pakistan. To make it clear, I am not a BJP supporter. Nor do I have any affiliation to Congress or the Trinamool Congress. I am an analyst of sport and that’s my only concern.

DubaiICC Champions TrophyIndia-PakistanIndian cricket