Former Pakistan stalwarts accused New Delhi of double standards and
believed that India had pulled out of the Asian Test Championship
because they were afraid of losing. Intikhab Alam, a former captain
and coach, said: "It's a senseless decision. In my personal opinion,
the Indians are afraid of losing to Pakistan."
Hasib Ahsan, another vocal Test off-spinner, went a step ahead when he
suspected Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) involvement in
the withdrawal. "I suspect that BCCI themselves asked their government
not to clear the tour because they know they can't go anywhere after
losing to Pakistan in Lahore," he said.
Pakistan had thrashed India in the inaugural Asian Test Championship
fixture at Kolkata in near silence. India were last year bulldozed by
Moin Khan's men in the Asia Cup one-day tournament in Dhaka. Pakistan
won both the titles while India failed to qualify for the finals.
The Indians have suffered a string of defeats after their historic
success against the Australians at home. They lost the one-day
tournament finals in Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka while lost the first Test
at Galle by 10 wickets. "If India thinks that Kashmir issue would be
resolved by not playing cricket, then they are foolish," Hasib
continued, adding: "India has mixed sports and politics and I knew it
from the last two to three months that they have no plan to come to
Pakistan."
Intikhab said: "This decision spells politics and politicians would be
the only gainers and cricket will be the loser." Intikhab questioned
New Delhi's policy of only targeting cricket. "Yasin Merchant won the
Asian snooker championship in Karachi in June while an Indian player
appeared in a squash tournament in Peshawar earlier this month. In
October, India will be sending its contingent for the SAF Games. But
when it comes to playing cricket, they disallow permission.
"New Delhi's policies and logic are mindboggling in the background
that they had said in April that they had no objection if India plays
Pakistan in any multinational tournaments," Intikhab said.
Intikhab demanded New Delhi to spell out its policy and come out clean
rather than confusing the situation and playing ping pong with
Pakistan. However, the former Surrey player felt that since all the
three Asian countries have won World Cups, they needed to play against
each other more often to form a formidable Asian block.
Wasim Akram, under whose captaincy Pakistan won the Chennai and
Kolkata Tests in 1999, wondered if he would get another chance to play
a Test against India. "I don't know if I will get a chance to play
them again. I am in the twilight of my career and time is not in my
hand. That's precisely why I was keen and geared up for the Lahore
Test," Wasim, who was also a member of Imran Khan's 1986-87 Bangalore
Test winning team, said.
Wasim said New Delhi's decision has not only dampened the hopes and
dreams of cricketers of the two countries, it has also spoiled the
party of billions of fans.
"If the Australians or the Englishmen dream to play in the Ashes,
cricketers from Pakistan and India like to play against each other.
Similarly, there is probably more interest in the followers of the
game when India and Pakistan lock horns rather than Australia facing
England," Wasim said.
PCB Cautious: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) reacted cautiously to
the fate of two other assignments involving India after New Delhi
reportedly withdrew its team from the Asian Test Championship starting
Aug 29.
Pakistan `A' is scheduled to tour India in Nov while traditional
rivals are to jointly host a quadrangular tournament next year in
March, also involving the West Indies and Zimbabwe. While the PCB
officials restrained from any comments on New Delhi's decision, they
said a formal invitation from India regarding the Pakistan `A' team's
tour was still awaited.
"As regards the quadrangular tournament, that stage at present is too
far away. Let's see how the winds blow in the days to come," director
of the PCB, Brig Munawar Rana, said from Lahore. Brig Rana, on India's
withdrawal, said since the highest authorities in India have taken the
decision, Pakistan's response would be issued by Islamabad. He,
however, admitted that a statement from the foreign office was
expected sometime Wednesday evening.
The PCB official said India had informally invited to host Pakistan
`A'. He, nevertheless, added that once a formal invitation is
received, it will be considered keeping in mind the present situation.