Just Asking: Can Cricket And Blood Flow Together?

It is not only Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray’s criticism of India playing Pakistan in September that will be ringing in Indian ears. Whatever the BCCI’s justification for fielding Team India in the Asia Cup T20 tournament in the UAE next month, it is certain to prove unpopular. This will certainly be displayed most on social media where people have already noted that it is BCCI’s greed that is driving this move to resume sporting ties with Pakistan. Coming as they do so soon after hostilities on the border have barely ceased and the success of Operation Sindoor is being spoken of in Parliament and outside, India-Pakistan matches may not have the same resonance as before. And to prove how greedy they are about putting up this spectacle, the organisers of the Asia Cup have shown some ingenuity in trying to bring about at least two meetings between India and Pakistan in the league and Super Four stage but also a possible third match if both teams qualify for the final. UAE may be the safest place in the world at present to host these matches, but the hit on the national sentiments of Indians and cricket lovers may be deep. “Blood and water cannot flow together,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi thundered when abrogating the old Indus Waters Treaty. Apparently, blood and cricket can now flow together. There may be some logic to BCCI trying to ensure no threat to a place for Team India in the Los Angeles Olympics of 2028, but to think playing in the Asia Cup will help is a stretch. It will be ironic if Pakistan pulls out of the matches against India.