IPL stoking crass nationalism

Pradeep Magazine, in the Hindustan Times, says it was insensitive on the part of the IPL and the franchises to put the Pakistan players on the auction list but then ignore them. The strong protests in Pakistan have gone further in intensifying the differences and bode poorly for relations between the two countries and the game itself.

The Pioneer's Ashok Malik believes there are two ways of looking at the decision of the eight franchises to not bid for a single Pakistani cricketer. The first is to resort to the old cliché that “sports and politics must not mix”. The second is to consider a broader phenomenon - the increasing role of Indian business in both shaping and reflecting foreign policy and its concerns.

Asha’ar Rehman, writing in the Pakistan daily Dawn, compares the standard diagnosis and prescription procedure of the IPL mess as somewhat reminiscent of a theme in a Manto story whose main character believed he had a cure for constipation and wanted to convince people that they all suffered from it.

On his India Uncut blog, Amit Varma writes that all this speculation about government directives and collusion between teams is pointless. Each franchise looked to its self-interest and made a perfectly rational decision. Such as it goes.

In Mint, Ayaz Memon looks back at the history of political tension between India and Pakistan and wonders if cricket can provide the healing touch once more.