England too

The devil is in the details. This implies the New Zealand cricket team’s abrupt exit from Pakistan without upholding its sportsmanship commitment. The fact that the Kiwis walked away from the scheduled three ODIs and five T20 matches, just minutes before they were supposed to enter the field, points to skeletons in their cupboard. But one thing is clear by now: it wasn’t any security concern, as they portrayed it to be. If there was one, that should have been categorically shared with Pakistan. Ducking out is no excuse.

The fact is that real-politick came into play by subduing the glory of cricket, and disappointing millions of fans worldwide. This argument gets meat from subsequent developments as England too excused from touring Pakistan next month on similar flimsy grounds. The only excuse cited was an intelligence report from Five Eyes, comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. This is why it is feared that the Aussies will also shy away from their forthcoming tour to Pakistan.

These happenings point out a pattern and a psyche, ultimately forcing one to smell a rat. However, whether it is India’s muscle-flexing at the ICC to deny Pakistan of its due share of the game or anything else, the onus is on Kiwis to explain why they backed out from playing in Pakistan after 18 years. A disappointed Pakistan keeps its fingers crossed as the cricket-crazy nation will not stop short of a convincing explanation from Wellington. PCB Chairman Ramiz Raja truly reflected the feelings when he said the Kiwis failed a member of their cricket fraternity when it needed it most.

It is a reality that Green Shirts go out of their way to accommodate the essence of the game, and had never hesitated to play in racist and biased grounds, be it England or India, respectively, and had at times tolerated an unpleasant environment. The Black Caps stunt has simply devastated the spirit of the gentleman’s game.