Security cordon guards India's 'Ashes' series (28 January 1999)

28 January 1999

Security cordon guards India's 'Ashes' series

By Peter Deeley in Madras

THE sight of armed marksmen on the roofs of buildings overlooking the players' hotel is scarcely a reassuring omen for the resumption of hopefully peaceful cricketing hostilities here today between India and Pakistan.

But both countries deserve credit for getting this game off the ground in the face of blatant hostility shown by extremists to the idea of the first Test on Indian soil for 12 years between the two neighbours.

Political and nationalist antipathy is so deeply embedded in the sub-continent that it is still not safe for a Pakistan side to show themselves in Mumbai, the headquarters of the fanatical Shiv Sena movement, where effigies of Imran Khan were recently burnt in the streets.

So the opening Test was scheduled instead for Delhi, only for the extremists to climb into the ground there and dig up the pitch, causing a last-minute shift here.

At that moment the series was on a knife-edge but the Indian government then reached a deal with Shiv Sena, who agreed to call off their protest, and Pakistan stood firm on their itinerary in the face of the provocation.

That has not altogether diffused the tension. Three hundred potential trouble-makers were rounded up here after pigs' heads were thrown at the stadium and a Hindu man attempted self-immolation.

Now there are some 2,000 police on duty for the duration of the game, and a blanket security cordon moves with the Pakistan players wherever they go.

Visiting Wasim Akram, Pakistan's captain, in his hotel room is rather like going through airport security. A visitor has to undergo a body search, pass through a metal detector and then sign a book.

"If we want to go out we have to tell the guards the day before and they travel with us," Wasim explained. "The extra security was unsettling when we first got here, but we are getting used to it now and the guards are not getting in our way.

"So far, I have stayed in my room if I am not at the ground, but I am hoping it will ease down once the game gets under way."

The major concern is that a Pakistan win would further inflame feelings. One local columnist wrote: "Heaven forbid. An Indian defeat would become an instant excuse and justification for these fanaticists."

The odds, however, must be on a draw. These two sides have met 44 times in 47 years and three-quarters of the games, including 15 of the last 16, have failed to produce a result.

Victory or defeat is more than just a sporting outcome: it is a matter of extreme national pride. Wasim said: "Some people think the Ashes is the most important Test series, but India-Pakistan is the ultimate for our players. If we win here, we will go home heroes."

Today is a national holiday here and more than 20,000 tickets have already been sold. But the ground holds around 50,000 and many have been put off by the oppressive security surrounding the stadium and the fear of more violent demonstrations.

A trouble-free series would do much to cement wider relations. Wasim and Mohammad Azharuddin, the Indian captain, hope that this is the first step towards a new friendship, with India planning to pay a return trip to Pakistan in 2001.

Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)