Cricinfo staff
March 3, 2009

“Concerns have emerged over the security measures that will be in place for the IPL next month after India’s home minister P Chidambaram said that he would ask the organisers to postpone the tournament so that it does not clash with the country’s general elections. IPL officials, however, have ruled out a postponement and instead talked of rescheduling games within the current window.

Chidambaram told NDTV the government would provide security for the IPL but the country’s paramilitary forces would be stretched to cover both the elections and the Twenty20 tournament. The IPL is scheduled to be held in nine Indian venues from April 10-May 24 amidst elections across the country.” For more info. click the link below:

http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/ipl2009/content/current/story/393305.html

I think it will be more prudent, pragmatic and practical if the IPL is postponed, because the Indian elections at the same time means an explosive recipe. If something like Lahore or even worst than this happens during the IPL match, then India too will be out of the World Cup contention.

And, one should not rule out the possibility of a terror attack in India during the IPL and it will not just be the Taliban or Al-Qaida going all the way to Chennai or some South Indian location but, it could be their own extremists groups who want to create chaos in the country like those doing in Pakistan would consider it as an opportunity to exploit.

IF that really happens it won’t be just a cliche to say “I told you so” but, it is a matter of human lives and it is a matter of cricket that is a game loved by hundreds of millions of people in the sub-continent. One thing is for sure, NO PAKISTANI PLAYER would be playing for the IPL in India. If Kamran Khattmal and Sohail Tanvir want to go and play for Rajhastan Royals, they should get a kick on their BUTT and no lolly pop to pacify them.

Comment

I think the tone of the statement is unsympathetic and simply shameful coming out of Justin Vaughan.

Pakistan basically has suffered a tragedy where 6 of its security personnel died in saving the lives of SL team and a heroic performance from the bus driver who continued to drive the coach into the stadium amongst hail of bullets and bombs. He could have simply run for his life. A different statement from the chief executive like we are in talks with PCB to reschedule the tour to a neutral venue would have been the need of the hour. In this war on terror Pakistan often finds itself without any real international support. Pakistan is all alone in this once again. Many people who voice their opinions that Pakistan should rethink its strategy of war on terror may well have a point.

Shame on you New Zealand Cricket Board!!!

2011 is still too far away but the question is, will the India/Pakistan diplomatic relationships improve? Or, should I say the animosity between the fundamentalists of these two countries will not fade away? I think in that case, Pakistan should avoid playing their round matches in India and the ICC must consider this point before they reschedule these matches. For Pakistan, they should be fixed in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and the UAE. After this Lahore blast, I am not sure how the Sri Lankan public will react to Pakistani team playing in their country?

The points that I have mentioned above, I am not sure if the PCB dimwit dolts have thought at this stage or not? But, it is a hint or should I say; “A Scream” from our blog to keep this in mind and remind the ICC to schedule the matches as suggested.

You’ve hit the nail on the head. Playing at neutral venues will definitely be a blessing in disguise. In fact the more Pakistanis play outside of Pakistan, the greater the chances of Pakistan’s opening problems to get sorted. Fielding and bowling will improve too.

As the reality forces Pakistan to play at neutral venues, I think end result won’t be too shabby. Pitches will be better and ground field conditions will be better hence improved batting, bowling, and fielding. Pakistan also should try to come up with a formula of revenue sharing and play matches on road (in the touring country) that were supposed to be played at home. Our youth teams should be sent to play on the road as well. I think it will improve quality of our cricket even if the occurrence of such events won’t be that frequent.

I respect your opinions but I have no respect for most of the cricketers you have mentioned. The only ones I respect from that list are Afridi, Waqar and Younis Khan.

They are either Mullahs or people like Miandad who will promote their own relatives to the detriment of the team.

And I don’t respect Wasim Akram because he could have done so much for cricket in the country but he is the biggest match fixer the world has ever seen.

Javed

I presented a crazy solution once to mobilize the youth through phone texts , word of the mouth, flyers, and pamphlets to take over the country swiftly by mass protests and by all means necessary. Youth needs a leader to look upon and only Imran Khan has the kind of magnetic personality and charisma to fit the mould. Since youth have a positive perspective of sportsmen, they all can get involved. Just think about the reach of people like Shahid Afridi, Inzamam, Javed Miandad, Waqar Younis, Younis Khan, Saeed Anwer, and many more. There are also a few sincere politicians and scholars who can join forces but the best support would be if military play neutral. I wish we could eliminate this scum of feudal lords and religious fanatics from Pakistan forever.

The PCB, how naive they can be not to relocate or postpone the Lahore test match? Blame them for being stupid.

The government has not been able to protect the team, they could not protect Benazir, they can never protect anyone especially when they are a sitting duck target. Blame the government for being so incompetent.

The Sri Lankans, how brave, friendly or stupid they can be to agree to play in the midst of all the chaos? Blame them for being so stupid to play only to prove a point that they too are living in similar situation in their own country.

The terrorists how cruel and ugly they can be to play with the lives of the innocent people? How long they will continue to do this and, for what they are doing this? Blame them for being so remorseless and cruel.

Blaming India for doing a Mumbai tit for tat. It is very easy to do that or say the Jews or the Americans are behind this.

I blame the Sharif Brothers for the simple reason that they have created this mess in Punjab for reaping their own profits and political interests. During all this mess when the city was on fire, playing a test match was like playing with fire. If your own house is not in order you cannot blame others as responsible for adding fuel to the fire.

No one will ever catch those gunmen now, the police, intelligence agencies etc., if they produce someone may not be the real culprit, they are under pressure to find the culprits and they will put the blame on someone but, that will not be the end of this problem. So, what is the problem? And, how can one resolve it?

The problem is with these politicians and in my opinion ALL these politicians needs to disappear from the political front forever, and how that will happen? I don’t have an answer for that. The army or the Taliban is not the answer. There has to be another way. Let us think about it, what could be that way? There must be a peaceful way to resolve all these problems without loosing a poor man’s life.