By the time I had switched on the TV yesterday, the result of the India-England match was irrelevant. The terror attacks in Mumbai naturally overshadowed mere cricket. It is natural and understandable that England should want to call off the tour and go home. News reports suggest that the rest of the matches have been postponed. A postponement can last more than a year or can be used as a diplomatic term for abandonment.
I feel that the tour must continue fairly promptly, even if England take a break to let things calm down and return after Christmas. England owe it to India and their fans to demonstrate that life must go on after such senseless carnage. The cliche about not letting the terrorists win can sound trite, but it is a valid one. Even though reports suggested that the terrorists were seeking British and Americans, the bulk of those who died or were wounded were Indians. England should stay and compete as a mark of respect to them.
Naturally, the protection of the England players is paramount to the ECB. I am sure that everything will be done to ensure their safety. It might be wise to move the second Test from Bombay. But our shared humanity and the demonstration of the continuation of normal life in the face of those who want to take away our freedom is also important. If we wanted to ensure that everyone was 100 per cent safe from terrorist attacks all the time, no one would travel on trains or enter restaurants in urban areas. The cancellation of the tour wouldn't remove the threat, but nor, I feel, would its continuation enhance the threat.
There is no use in conducting the rest of the ODI series especially after these threats, and a 5-0 whitewash. But the Test Series has to go on in order to show the people that cricket can help in restoration of peace.
Life has to go on, otherwise we become paralysed by fear. We live in a dangerous world but generally the security services protect us. Playing a Test match is no more dangerous than attending the market. The best tribute to those who died in the latest shocking attacks would be to play on in their memory.
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3 hours ago
9 comments:
yeah i agree...but probably they feel dat cancellin it nd sendin dem home is 1 less thing to worry bout fr now...
cricket can do a bunch of things but none worth al the additional headache...police already got dere hands full counterin such inovations in terror strikes without english players life on de line..
true that it is an additional headache.. But India is such a huge country with lot of manpower. Conducting the tests in a place like Hyderabad, or Chennai or come other place is a good option. Its like a different country altogether.
Moreover it will show that India can cope up with the loss easily can stay calm under stress.
couldn't agree with u more..if test series is deserted now then we would be playing onto the hands of the terrorists...
so the tests should carry on... and that too in the initially scheduled locations....
even if the test series is rescheduled the second test cannot happen at Mumbai after all this. The TAJ had been the place where the England team had been staying during the start of the tour. So definitely they'll be reluctant to go there again. Discussions would be to select another suitable venue.
the idea of continuing the tour after a break is good... still I really fear if the situation will change to that in Pakistan, from where all teams are shying away:(
ok when you wrote about this I started off being somewhat mad as the news just had to mention the cricket tour in the midst of the emergency situation. But as I read through, I calmed down. Anyways what you're saying is right. The tour should continue in a different part of India to show that nothing can be done to India. Security should be ramped up everywhere in India permanently to ensure the safety of its citizens. Just a month ago there were bombs in Assam and now in Mumbai.
now we should not worry about the cricket..i will as time progress... we worry about the people who lost their life.
With due respects to your opinion, I would like to envision the entire episode from the perspective of a third nation!
Under the circumstances, would it be wise to send the Indian team to play in Pak? I believe not!
Security is a matter of grave concern and will not and should not be compromised under any circumstance whatsoever!
Yes give them a message that we are not scared... let it continue...
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