Keeping it in perspective

The announcement of the Indian government to allow the resumption of bilateral cricket ties with Pakistan has created a wave of optimism among cricket fans on either side of the border, but it wouldn't be out of place to inject a dose of realism with the realisation that this might be yet another false dawn.

From a cricket point of view, it is a tragedy that one of the greatest rivalries in the game has never been allowed to flower. India and Pakistan met in their most recent Test series four years ago, and it's been 15 years since an Indian team made a full tour of Pakistan. Sachin Tendulkar is the only player from the current Indian team to have played a Test in Pakistan, and anyone who watched him, at 16, take on Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis after being felled by a bouncer from Waqar would tell you how special it was.

It is cricket's loss that political problems didn't allow the Tendulkar-Akram rivalry to grow to the proportion of the Gavaskar-Imran one. Hope now beckons for a face-off between Tendulkar and Shoaib Akhtar, and for any cricket fan, irrespective of national affiliations, that is a thrilling prospect.

To nobody's surprise, the BCCI has lost no time in announcing a tentative date for India's tour of Pakistan - in February next year. Indian cricketers will be a tired lot in February after their two-month tour of Australia, but the need to get on with a Pakistan tour cannot be overstated. Indo-Pak cricket is at the heart of the Asian Cricket Council movement, and the BCCI's president Jagmohan Dalmiya has worked ceaselessly to restore full cricket relations between the two countries.

However, three months is a long time in Indo-Pak relations. It would take just one major skirmish, never unlikely given that Kashmir continues to be a diplomatic flashpoint between the neighbours, for the decision to be reversed. The Indian government's latest position is a significant step forward for cricket in the subcontinent, but it must not be forgotten that it is only the first step.

Anand Vasu is assistant editor of Wisden Cricinfo.