KARACHI:
The visuals of the recent T20 match between Pakistan and Afghanistan are quite disappointing so far as the spirit of game is concerned. It’s a textbook principle that sports are the sine qua non for a healthy and balanced life. Sports create bonhomie between nations, and sometimes help thaw the frigidness of relationships.
The unsportsmanship displayed in and out the field by players and crowd, especially of Afghanistan, has left a bad taste in every sportsman’s mouth. The misbehaviour has defied all the ethics of sports. Damage done to stadium is tantamount to vandalism. It has falsified the fact that sports are a proven panacea for extremism.
The media on the other side of the border, as usual, started politicising this episode, just to add fuel to fire. The anchors taking sides with Afghanistan were hellbent on proving that this acrimonious behaviour of Afghan players and audience has its political roots to US-Afghanistan war wherein Pakistan succumbed to American demands.
The Afghanistan cricket team should never forget that Pakistan has always rendered its neighbourly obligations without fail, whether it is trade or sports. Pakistan is a second home for Afghan people. Even Afghan cricketers have practised in the grounds of Peshawar and Islamabad. The venting of their spleen on Pakistani players is ill founded. On our side too, our media and cricket legends didn’t display sanity at all by reminding Afghan people of the favours Pakistan has showered upon them. All this doesn’t fall in the ambit of sports and their spirit.
The PCB chairman has reacted with serenity on this unsavoury incident. At a presser, he asserted that PCB will register its protest with the ICC. Though the players involved in the affront have been fined 25% of their match fee, and the hooligans among the audience have been arrested by the local police, ICC must come up with some measures to snub such skirmishes.
M Nadeem Nadir
Kasur
Published in The Express Tribune, September 15th, 2022.
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