India's get-out clause, and Prasanna's lament

The Board of Control for Cricket in India has reserved the right to abort the tour of Pakistan at any time, in the event of crowd trouble. This comes to light in a report appearing in Pakistan's The News. The report quotes a senior PCB official as saying, "The Indian board had in the MoU [Memorandum of Understanding] put a clause that even if any crowd trouble takes place at any venue -- be it Karachi or Lahore -- they have the right to abort the tour for security reasons."

Rameez Raja confirmed that the MoU had been signed by the Pakistan Cricket Board. "Apparently, their players have the fear of the unknown while venturing on this tour and we can understand that. Their players have asked for certain security assurances from their board which in turn put the clause in the MOU which we signed and sent back today."

Raja assured readers that the PCB spared no effort in the quest to ensure the players' security. "We are taking all possible security measures to ensure there are no incidents on this tour which is so important for all of us and relations between the two countries. The government is also taking keen interest in the security arrangements. We are very confident that the security and administrative measures we are putting in place for this tour, it will go off smoothly. But no one can predict the future."

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An agency report appearing in The Times of India says that Imran Khan will have a brainstorming session with the Pakistan team on February 29 at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. The theme of the session will be preparation needed to take on India. Imran was captain of the Pakistan team when the two sides last met for a full series in Pakistan, in 1989. He was also captain of the victorious team that toured India in 1987.

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Javed Miandad, Pakistan's coach has fired several warning shots in an interview with Kolkata's Telegraph newspaper. He began on a conciliatory note, saying, "Frankly, agar waisa nahin hua [if it didn't happen like that], then we shouldn't be playing at all. Be it your Prime Minister or our President, everybody has linked cricket to the improvement of relations... Therefore, both teams have to set the perfect example... They certainly won't be at war..."

He has a word of caution for Rahul Dravid, who was so successful in India's recent tour of Australia. "He's good... But, when he takes guard for the first time, he is going to start on zero... In fact, each innings will be a fresh beginning... Whatever Dravid's reputation, he has to prove himself in Pakistan."

He also refused to compare the current Indian or Pakistani teams with their counterparts from the past. "I doubt if comparisons serve much purpose. Bottomline is how a particular side plays, how it absorbs pressure. Greats have been known to flop. At the same time, unheralded players have done wonders... Yeh sab cricket ka kamaal hai."

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Playing Pakistan is not as much of a challenge as playing Australia. At least that's what Reuters quotes Sourav Ganguly as saying. "Pakistan is a challenge, but I am sure it is not going to be as big as Australia. Australia are definitely a superior side. We are pretty confident after our tour of Australia," he said. "To be honest, we are going to Pakistan in a much better frame of mind."

Ganguly also brushed aside the suggestion that security concerns will be a serious distraction for India's cricketers. I don't think the boys should have any problem in focusing on cricket. They know their performances will be watched all over the world." He also thought India and Pakistan should play each other more often. "It will definitely help to reduce tension and hype over cricket," he said. "I don't think the crowds and tension in Pakistan are going to be that bad."

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Erapalli Prasanna remembers the 1978-79 tour of Pakistan well. It was his last in an Indian cap. Now in Kolkata, Prasanna told The Indian Express some very interesting things about that series.

"We didn't bowl as well as we could have, and that decided the series. It seemed surreal at times and our manager Fatehsinghrao Gaekwad was so bent upon creating goodwill that we forgot at times we were there to compete against arch rivals. He kept emphasising it was a goodwill tour, we needed to be pleasant and we were sucked into that atmosphere," he says. "We couldn't summon the ferocity which was needed to quell Pakistan's advance in a historic series. Gaekwad did what he needed to do in his capacity and created a lot of goodwill in Pakistan but cricketwise it softened our edges."

Some of the Pakistan cricketers who played that series may not warm to Prasanna's comments. Zaheer Abbas, who scored 583 runs at an average of almost 195, will take particular exception. "It was a Zaheer Abbas series -- he made many runs on that tour. But I don't have the slightest doubt we could have contained him effectively. He was a very good batsman but we made him appear a master batsman by not bowling as well as we were capable of. We allowed him to run away with big scores."

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