India Syndicate 2.0

The Indian Premier League (IPL) has to have to some drama around it, doesn’t it ? Last year, we had the whole security thing. Now, it is the turn of the Pakistani’s being “disappointed” at the “snub”.

First to the “snub”. It doesn’t make any sense at all. We are told that the 11 Pakistani players were included in the auction because one or the other of the franchises had especially requested for them. So, why weren’t they picked up ? We will never know, ‘ cause we won’t be told.

Now to the reactions from Pakistan. Pakistan - the government, the people, the PCB et al - needs to decide what its stance towards India is. First they say they will support India in its “fight against terror”. Then they release all the accused in their courts. Then they say they will not send their players to India for the IPL 2because of “security concerns”. Then they raise a hue-and-cry over the fact that their players were not allowed to play in the IPL2.

From the bouquet of inconsistencies contributed to by both the IPL and the Pakistan set-up, needs to emerge some clarity. People over in Pakistan need to understand that without any positive statements and without cutting down on jingoistic comments like “we are ready for any adventurous moves from the Indian Army”, things are not going to get back to normal. Nobody expects Pakistan to actually do anything about terrorism - the least they can do is to shut up for a while. It seems even that is beyond them now.

As for the IPL, it needs to decide whether it wants Pakistani players or not. There is no point in first asking for the players to be included in the auction and then rejecting them. Not acceptable.

But then what can you expect from groups, organizations, and governments that have absolutely no accountability at all !