A Money Grabbing Exercise?

[Dhondy]

Some time back,the fans of a certain cricket team called England's return to India as nothing more than a money grabbing gesture, contrived with an eye on IPL. What sort of base mentality do you have to have to think like this? Surely, you must have grown up in a very sad society to believe that every kind gesture is motivated by the lure of lucre? After the Indian bombing, before the blood had stopped flowing, some of these guys pointed out that India was as unsafe as their country and therefore did not deserve to host any cricket. After England decided to go ahead with their tour, a leading writer from that nation lamented publicly on Cricinfo that his nation was being shortchanged, because under similar circumstances, other western nations had refused to tour. Not a word of praise for the enormous bravery that the English players had shown in returning. Just about money? Whatever you have to say about the Poms, you have to take your hats off to their sense of duty, fairplay and grace in victory and defeat. If IPL was the only motivation, only Pietersen & Flintoff would have arrived on these shores. Everybody came, without exception. They realised that giving in to terrorism is as cowardly as condoning their acts. It's a concept that escapes certain fans. You have to wonder why these fans blindly denied mounting evidence of the complicity of their compatriots in killing innocent Indian civilians, right up to the point that the British PM came out and said that 75% of the terror plots in the UK are being hatched west of Durand line. Where does patriotism get off and humanity take over?

[Dhondy]

Here, judge for yourself. Here are extracts from that article on Cricinfo.

All kinds of noble sentiments accompanied the break in England's tour following the Mumbai attacks. Terrorists must not be allowed to win. Cricket will galvanise Indians. Some said, f***k terrorists. Great, correct and emphatic noises they were, for who doesn't want terrorists to get f***ked? But these sounds were mostly absent and generally less forceful through the last year, as Pakistan strove to make someone, anyone, come and play. No Test cricket for a year, and less prospect of it ahead, and no Champions Trophy. The message was unmistakable: Terrorism must not win the day, unless the day happens to be in Pakistan. Here they can keep winning until this blighted country is taken over by them, by men it is not even entirely responsible for creating; here, whose people clearly need no cricket to cheer them up, offering the pretence of life going on as normal. The reasons are both clear and fuzzy. For one, the minds that were so closed against coming to Pakistan are easier prised open by the prospect of money. Noble intentions aside, does there remain any doubt now that the IPL will welcome Kevin Pietersen, Andrew Flintoff, and possibly a few more, with arms, hearts and pockets wide open? Not that it was needed, but England's return has emphasised that cricket currently begins and ends, and breathes and earns in between, in India. It says much about cricket's current money-lust that it has taken the horrors of Mumbai, an attack at the very financial heart of a country and an entire sport, for people to wake up to the problem. Only the prospect of India being unable to bring untold fortunes into players' pockets has prompted men such as Tim May, head of the global players' union, to talk of solutions, talk conspicuously absent as Pakistan suffered.

[hindu-Stan]

After seeing your thread, i visited that sites. I feel they are such a morons. India is not in the same league as they are. The hard fact is that India might not safe but much more better than other countries. I seriously enjoy their frustration. :hysterical: It is priceless for me. :cantstop: And i personally think we should not compare as a nation to them not talking about cricket team. But if i was a pakistani friend, I might do the same thing.:--D . They are begging for cricket and nobody is going there. And india is getting hand full of cricket... hehhe

[Predator_05]

I'm loving this. Pakis carry out terrorist attacks in Mumbai, killing innocent civilians like the gutless inbreds that they are, and nothing changes in India - life goes on, the cricketers continue touring, knowing that this country is a safe place to play test cricket. This is the kind of reputation and credibility that the inbred pakis will never have. Everybody thinks Pakiland is the ass-crack of the subcontinent. You can feel the jealousy inside their hearts right now...:hysterical:

[Sachinism]

Pakistan are bound to feel short changed, but they must face facts, that country is too lenient on terrorists, government officials back terrorists and is a lot worse than India. It may seem hypocritical but there are differences in the 2 nations.

[Cricketics]

i live to see such posts from pakistanis reading such posts or hearing them coming from a paki, makez my day. I know they are very very very jealous of our victory against the Aussies and now winning this record breaking game against England. when i read the posts fundamentalists cum mercanaries of UK who are pretty much anti-india in each and every thing they talk, i feel great. we all need OXY-GENNN AND WHEN HE PROVIDES US WITH HIS SO CALLED ANTI-INDIAN POSTS which indigates the jealousy carrying in his blood, i feel just bloody great. then we have dhullans from pakistan living in uk, jo bade SAJ-dhuj ke rahti hai and try to be a proud cricket supporter and fair.. though they aren't. When any Indian performs, they just don't have the courage to appreciate, and when they don't, i know the jealousy mode is on.. and i love those times... pakistan should not be wiped out from the map. we need this country to stay alive.... p.s - good thread Dhondy

[Guest BossBhai]

-- Removed on request of the user --

[Indus_Army]

Excellent post, Dhondy! When it comes to terrorism, there are two kinds of nations. There is a first kind, which creates, breeds & worships the phenomena, whilst the rest are just the unfortunate victims. With this choice, England has clearly shown that it can differentiate between the two kinds mentioned above. More than just coming over and almost scalping India's number, their players have even donated a significant sum towards the relief efforts. Kudos to the England team and their refreshing attitude. I would be sure to personally thank any of the English contingent (team, support staff, fans etc) that I bump into at Mohali over the weekend. Their presence and support has made a definite difference.:hatsoff:

[fineleg]

Kudos to England. Brave of them to come and play. Also - while there will be the occasional sledges and words exchanged between Ind and Eng team, they are FAR FAR better than the Aussies. I hope Poms beat PWNTINGs men in Ashes.

[umpire]

I salute English team for coming here and that too full strength. Well Done KP and his team mates. Good that indian diplomacy was able to convince them to tour. Unfortunately I missed out on Ahmedabad Test. had great plans to go there atleast on 2 out of 5 days.

[zubinpepsi]

Excellent post, Dhondy! When it comes to terrorism, there are two kinds of nations. There is a first kind, which creates, breeds & worships the phenomena, whilst the rest are just the unfortunate victims. With this choice, England has clearly shown that it can differentiate between the two kinds mentioned above. :

exactly this is the point , they never undst... those guys live in such denial.. they cant see this obvious difference tht we r the victims of terrorism where they r the breeders of terrorism... i realy pity those beings.. they r so ignorant.. but im fkin loving this ......

[zubinpepsi]

Kudos to England. Brave of them to come and play. Also - while there will be the occasional sledges and words exchanged between Ind and Eng team, they are FAR FAR better than the Aussies. I hope Poms beat PWNTINGs men in Ashes.

i really like kp.. hes so refreshing in the defeats..givin the credit where its due.. instead of making lame excuses n sound like sour grapes... Hats off to english team....

[Dhondy]

i really like kp.. hes so refreshing in the defeats..givin the credit where its due.. instead of making lame excuses n sound like sour grapes... Hats off to english team....

He played the entire match with a fractured rib.

[zubinpepsi]

and oh yeah i love their hate for sachin.. i absolutely love tht.. shyte loads of jealousy..... :-D let their stomach burn lot more..

[Guest dada_rocks]

They aren't sore losers like aussies either so definitely hats off to them..

[Rajiv]

Dhondy, lets say money was even part of the deal but he has turned a blind eye to the actual issue in Pakistan, it is something not printed in BOLD but it's on everyone's mind that with the religious sentiments a security guard can defect his job and start firing. On the other hand, England agreed to play at Chennai which has had ------ number of bombings? Mohali ? But in Pakistan - I mean where do they play in Pak, let's see Lahore, Rawalpindi, Karachi ( all of them had their share of bombings ) and the instability can scare anyone of. But offcourse we like to pick on other things and Cricinfo apparently allowed it ( and the best part is that Cricinfo is supposed to be Indian biased )

[vroomfondel]

After the Indian bombing, before the blood had stopped flowing, some of these guys pointed out that India was as unsafe as their country and therefore did not deserve to host any cricket. After England decided to go ahead with their tour, a leading writer from that nation lamented publicly on Cricinfo that his nation was being shortchanged, because under similar circumstances, other western nations had refused to tour. Not a word of praise for the enormous bravery that the English players had shown in returning. Just about money? Whatever you have to say about the Poms, you have to take your hats off to their sense of duty, fairplay and grace in victory and defeat. If IPL was the only motivation, only Pietersen & Flintoff would have arrived on these shores. Everybody came, without exception. They realised that giving in to terrorism is as cowardly as condoning their acts. It's a concept that escapes certain fans. You have to wonder why these fans blindly denied mounting evidence of the complicity of their compatriots in killing innocent Indian civilians, right up to the point that the British PM came out and said that 75% of the terror plots in the UK are being hatched west of Durand line. Where does patriotism get off and humanity take over?

I'm very happy to say this Doc, great post. :):two_thumbs_up: Allow me to belch my obvious thoughts all over your shiny thread... KP, as they say, is a true punjabi. sher. etc etc. He single-handedly implanted backbone into a side that contained more than its share of pale livers. Harmison is a mess on the field and off it. Flintoff is fine when he's batting or bowling, but spends his spare time imagining assassination attempts. To be able to bring those two, along with the Priors, Cooks and Strausses of the world to India requires some leadership. Hats off to a true panjabi. I think enough has been said of the groupthink and propaganda self-consumption that is Pakistan. I don't want to turn this into a Chit-chat thread full of bile, but I will mention a couple of more holistic, bull******ty academic things in response to the question, "why do they go to India and not to Pakistan" --Perception and goodwill: Various forms of Pyjama cricket with their naatch waalis and bollywood glamour show some of the best things about Indian culture. We are not a land of snake-charmers anymore, and the west sees a lot of itself in us -- generally open societies both. This is not a cause for shaabashi or slaps on our own backs, it is just that we have always been like this only, and we like it that way. Even the fundoos are cuddlier here. --Pakistan cannot run with the mullahs and hunt with the west: They have done so amazingly successfully in the past few decades, for various reasons (all bad). Sadly, the returns on the Pakistani investment are diminishing for the west, and their media is now much more amenable to calling Pakistan what it is. --Equal-Equal no more (or never were): Perhaps in the early '80s there was a shadow of a case for the Pakistani citizen claiming equal-equal. But since economic reforms led by Manmohanji, we have grown as we were expected to. But the equal-equal has not kept up with changing times. Ironically, it is Manmohanji who is now reinforcing these perceptions with statements like, "Pakistan is a victim of terror too". Well duh. --With reference to equal-equal, I have a thought: I haven't met many Indians who feel an innate sense of superiority over Pakistanis (or non-Indians). There are some, but not many. Generally, we feel that Pakis do stupid things and so we laugh at them. But judging from the padosis, it seems that there is a need to project superiority. That is a telling difference, IMO. And the cause of many crap articles on cricinfo. Anyway, I would let them vent. They will get over it.

[siddhu]

I'm very happy to say this Doc, great post. :):two_thumbs_up: Allow me to belch my obvious thoughts all over your shiny thread... KP, as they say, is a true punjabi. sher. etc etc. He single-handedly implanted backbone into a side that contained more than its share of pale livers. Harmison is a mess on the field and off it. Flintoff is fine when he's batting or bowling, but spends his spare time imagining assassination attempts. To be able to bring those two, along with the Priors, Cooks and Strausses of the world to India requires some leadership. Hats off to a true panjabi. I think enough has been said of the groupthink and propaganda self-consumption that is Pakistan. I don't want to turn this into a Chit-chat thread full of bile, but I will mention a couple of more holistic, bull******ty academic things in response to the question, "why do they go to India and not to Pakistan" --Perception and goodwill: Various forms of Pyjama cricket with their naatch waalis and bollywood glamour show some of the best things about Indian culture. We are not a land of snake-charmers anymore, and the west sees a lot of itself in us -- generally open societies both. This is not a cause for shaabashi or slaps on our own backs, it is just that we have always been like this only, and we like it that way. Even the fundoos are cuddlier here. --Pakistan cannot run with the mullahs and hunt with the west: They have done so amazingly successfully in the past few decades, for various reasons (all bad). Sadly, the returns on the Pakistani investment are diminishing for the west, and their media is now much more amenable to calling Pakistan what it is. --Equal-Equal no more (or never were): Perhaps in the early '80s there was a shadow of a case for the Pakistani citizen claiming equal-equal. But since economic reforms led by Manmohanji, we have grown as we were expected to. But the equal-equal has not kept up with changing times. Ironically, it is Manmohanji who is now reinforcing these perceptions with statements like, "Pakistan is a victim of terror too". Well duh. --With reference to equal-equal, I have a thought: I haven't met many Indians who feel an innate sense of superiority over Pakistanis (or non-Indians). There are some, but not many. Generally, we feel that Pakis do stupid things and so we laugh at them. But judging from the padosis, it seems that there is a need to project superiority. That is a telling difference, IMO. And the cause of many crap articles on cricinfo. Anyway, I would let them vent. They will get over it.

Respectfully disagree (the bolded part) but FULLY agree with the rest... They will never get over it... never...

[Ram]

As much as I would like to agree with most of the posters here and heartily congratulate the English for their sporting and brave behavior, somehow, the cynicist in me refuses to believe that Commericial intests( of both the players and the ECB) had no impact whatsover on their decision to come back. To heap laurels on the English for their really courageous decision to come back despite the terror attacks is probably not right. To roundly criticize them for putting commerical interests ahead of security concerns is definitely not right. The truth, as they say, is somewhere in the middle.

[fineleg]

As much as I would like to agree with most of the posters here and heartily congratulate the English for their sporting and brave behavior, somehow, the cynicist in me refuses to believe that Commericial intests( of both the players and the ECB) had no impact whatsover on their decision to come back. To heap laurels on the English for their really courageous decision to come back despite the terror attacks is probably not right. To roundly criticize them for putting commerical interests ahead of security concerns is definitely not right. The truth, as they say, is somewhere in the middle.

It is in the middle. But still family of cricketers were worried, and fear of attack was playing on their minds. They had to be brave to overcome that. What use is lot of money for them if they get attacked.