Sport and politics have found themselves bedfellows in the past
Given the background of the new Prime Minister, Imran Khan, it is unsurprising that the media is awash with sporting analogies and metaphors in the reporting of his early days in office, and this is nothing new. Sport and politics have found themselves bedfellows in the past. So-called ‘ping-pong diplomacy’ brought president Nixon to China in the early 1970s in a move that heralded the end of the Cold War. Nothing of the like is on the horizon in Pakistan, but it may be expected that references to sticky wickets, the playing with a straight bat and a hit-for-six are going to be making regular and increasingly tedious appearances at the political crease. Margaret Thatcher was noted for her fondness for cricketing metaphors, and the British parliament is no stranger to cover drives and members being caught at silly-mid-off.
Now Najam Sethi has terminated his innings at the Pakistan Cricket Board by tendering his resignation to the PM on August 20 and returned to the pavilion. He is to be replaced by the former president of the International Cricket Council Ehsan Mani as the new chairman of the PCB who is even now padding up. He will be formally nominated and the prescribed procedure initiated, but the outcome is most likely that he will take a stance before the wicket and wait for the googlies.
On the wider political field, a range of sportsmen from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa have made a call for ‘sports diplomacy’ involving India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The latter country has recently emerged as a cricketing nation and is still to find its form, being more closely wedded to the considerably less sedate buzkashi as a national game. But nothing ventured nothing gained, and with both Pakistan and India indicating that they might be interested in a friendly warm-up game themselves with an option of a trial three-way Test series inclusive of Afghanistan, then it may be time to get out the heavy roller and engage in some pitch preparation. Play on!
Published in The Express Tribune, August 22nd, 2018.
Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.
