Thank god we didn't tour Pakistan - Dhoni

[Lurker]

But never mind all that right? The players should shut the hell up and mind their own business and put aside all emotion.

Yes you should keep quiet if you: a) Have not much idea on whats going on. b) There is a good chance whatever you say would only worsen the situation. By any yardstick Sri Lanka is the team that probably has biggest support base in Pakistan(for a non Pakistan team). Time and again they have agreed to play a series when other teams have pulled out. Still the team was targetted. Surely this is not as simple a situation as "look we told you so" moment. He should leave this issue with people who have better understanding on the subject. And if he, as you put it, is worried about his safety(as that of his players) he should not make the tour of Pakistan. Simple. His utterances have already complicated a bad situation. As compared to Vettori, who addressed the same press conference, Dhoni's utterances clearly comes out second best. There would be a time to state his point of view, this is just not that time. xxx

[King Tendulkar]

Bad timing MSD. This is no time for such comments.

The defender of islam and pak speaks again. Dhoni spoke the truth thats all. Deal with it!

[Lurker]

Nope' date=' they were being delusional. [b']Pak is the hub of world terrorism and haven for Aghani, Talibani and Paki terrorists. India is not. So they were 'out' of their minds when speaking their minds. Dhoni on the other hand is not. His comments are spot on and this needed to be said.

It doesnt work that way. Simply because the terrorists were from Pakistan did not make Bombay safe. To a touring team, say England, it hardly matters if the terrorists are from Afganistan or Sudan, what they are worried about is whether they can strike at a place where they are touring. The more Pakistan gets unstable the less the whole region gets unstable. It is a simple fact and Indian fans need to keep that in mind.

[King Tendulkar]

Yes you should keep quiet if you: a) Have not much idea on whats going on. b) There is a good chance whatever you say would only worsen the situation.

a) no idea??? Islamic jihadis on another killing spree. Not excatly rocket science. b) worsen the situation for whom? Why are dhonis words going to make more jihadis? I think they are already well motivated for jihadi action. Or are you worried about pak cricket over stating the truth?

[Zap_Brannigan]

I bet everyone of us here thought the same when we heard the news.

[King Tendulkar]

It doesnt work that way. Simply because the terrorists were from Pakistan did not make Bombay safe. To a touring team, say England, it hardly matters if the terrorists are from Afganistan or Sudan, what they are worried about is whether they can strike at a place where they are touring. The more Pakistan gets unstable the less the whole region gets unstable. It is a simple fact and Indian fans need to keep that in mind.

Pak is the hub as they actually have state sponsered terrorism for decades. The pak govt, army and isi have funded , trained and encouraged the jihadi terrorism. This has also been basically supported by the people as well when they target india and co. Now the monster they have created has turned on its master. Chickens have come home to roost. Thats the difference. Others are victims. Pak cant be and is not a victim as they have created the monsters. They are not an innocent victim. You reap what you sow.

[Lord]

i fully defend Dhoni's comments.i shudder to think wat would have happened if Indians were there.we r all thankful that india didnt tour pak.this is no time for emotions n feelings.he has said wat we all thinking

[Dhondy]

Nothing wrong with Dhoni's statement. He's had a narrow escape. We've all felt the same way after not boarding a train or a flight that crashed. Easy to take the MHG when it's not your ass that's just escaped being splintered into a million pieces.

[The Outsider]

It is time to stop any attempts at being nice and politically correct as far as Pakistan is concerned. The entire system and government is rotten to the core. Sri Lanka were promised presidential security - gunmen walking around with in meters of a non bullet proof bus is what they got. Everyone worth his salt in Pakistan used the past that cricketers have never been targeted and will not be as if they some hotline with these terrorists. Look at what happened. Dhoni and the entire Indian team would be feeling almost as lucky to have escaped this as the Sri Lankans themselves.

[Fontaine]

Yes you should keep quiet if you: a) Have not much idea on whats going on.

Yeah, I guess Dhoni must have been asleep when 1. Playing plenty of matches in Pakistan, with a full security force present, 2. Meeting the ministers there including Musharruf, 3. Being briefed by the ICC and BCCI security teams every time visiting Pakistan or for upcoming tours 4. Being briefed by the local security forces It's ironic that you say one should keep quiet if you have not much idea of whats going on. When was the last time you toured Pakistan, were briefed by various security teams and saw at ground level what was happening in Pak? Maybe it's time you take your own advice, and you know, keep quiet since you don't know what's going on.

b) There is a good chance whatever you say would only worsen the situation. By any yardstick Sri Lanka is the team that probably has biggest support base in Pakistan(for a non Pakistan team). Time and again they have agreed to play a series when other teams have pulled out. Still the team was targetted. Surely this is not as simple a situation as "look we told you so" moment. He should leave this issue with people who have better understanding on the subject. And if he, as you put it, is worried about his safety(as that of his players) he should not make the tour of Pakistan. Simple. His utterances have already complicated a bad situation. As compared to Vettori, who addressed the same press conference, Dhoni's utterances clearly comes out second best. There would be a time to state his point of view, this is just not that time. xxx

Right, the 14 gunmen assualt a foreign cricket team and ICC refs, harming a few and killing half a dozen people with grenades, rpgs, automatic weapons in an organized attack, but some how a few words by Dhoni half a world away have complicated the situation. :hmmm:

[Gambit]

It doesnt work that way. Simply because the terrorists were from Pakistan did not make Bombay safe. To a touring team, say England, it hardly matters if the terrorists are from Afganistan or Sudan, what they are worried about is whether they can strike at a place where they are touring. The more Pakistan gets unstable the less the whole region gets unstable. It is a simple fact and Indian fans need to keep that in mind.

It works exactly that way. Pakistan is the origin of these terrorists and India is the victim. The two simply cannot be equated. However many times it's stated, it's still not enough. We are incredibly incredibly lucky to have cancelled our tour and Dhoni is expressing himself in a state of immense relief, which is completely normal and also the right thing to do. It's akin to that guy the other day stating on TV how lucky he was to have missed his flight, which later crashed and all aboard died.

[Fontaine]

http://content-www.cricinfo.com/pakistan/content/current/story/393259.html

Pakistan's World Cup hopes under threat Alex Brown March 3, 2003 Pakistan cricket is facing a bleak future, with visiting teams certain to boycott tours to the troubled nation for the foreseeable future in the wake of Tuesday's terrorist attack in Lahore. As international cricket pondered the ramifications, it became almost certain that Pakistan would be stripped of its status as the co-host of the 2011 World Cup. Asked about plans for the World Cup, ICC president David Morgan was blunt in his assessment. "Things will have to change dramatically in Pakistan, in my opinion, if any of the games are to be staged there." The chief executive, Haroon Lorgat, was less blunt but the message was the same. "It is pretty, pretty serious and it is very obvious that the landscape and the thinking has changed dramatically," Lorgat told Cricinfo. "We are going to have to reevaluate what we do and where Pakistan plays its cricket." Those views were echoed by Sharad Pawar, the ICC vice president and former head of the Indian cricket board, a close ally of the Pakistan Cricket Board. India had been forced to abandon their tour of Pakistan in January following a government directive after the attacks on Mumbai. Visting teams have experienced brushes with terrorism in the past but only now, with the Sri Lankans directly targeted by militants, is Pakistan faced with a blanket boycott. Even those who urged international teams not to abandon Pakistan have now accepted the inevitable. Wasim Akram, the former Pakistan captain, said Pakistan hosting the World Cup in 2011 was now a "distant dream". "How do you expect a foreign team to come to Pakistan now? We took pride in hosting our guests," Akram told ESPN Star. "This image has taken a beating. It's sad for Pakistan." Waqar Younis, Akram's bowling partner, said the chances of foreign teams coming to Pakistan were now remote. "We have to agree with whatever the ICC decides," he said. Ramiz Raja, another prominent voice in Pakistan, said he had never thought there would be a situation where sportspersons would be targeted in Pakistan. The series against Sri Lanka was cancelled immediately after Tuesday's attacks, and similar announcements regarding other tours are expected in the coming months. Australia, India, New Zealand and the West Indies are among the teams to have postponed or cancelled tours to Pakistan in recent years, and New Zealand will almost certainly call off their scheduled series there in November. The Black Caps experienced first-hand the dangers of touring Pakistan in 2002, when a bomb exploded outside their Karachi hotel, and NZC chief executive Justin Vaughan hinted strongly that the team would not return in the near future. "It's very frightening that for the first time a cricket team appears to be the specific target of terrorist action," Vaughan told NZPA. "That's never happened before - all previous incidents have been about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. This is a very different proposition and I think just a very frightening one for world cricket. You'd have to say this would throw further doubt over that tour but we don't make those decisions off the cuff like that. This is really serious." Reg Dickason, the security consultant contracted by the ECB and CA, said he had long feared that terrorists in Pakistan would target cricketers. "A lot of the concerns we raised during the Champions Trophy have unfortunately come home to roost," Dickason said. "The notion of sporting teams being a protected species was held by many, but it was not a view that we shared, unfortunately. "There were a number of factors we considered, including the global exposure an attack on an international sporting team could have. (Tours of Pakistan) are highly unlikely for the forseeable future given the present environment. How could you go there now? The Australians were supposed to have played there in March. This, unfortunately, is the realisation of many of the things we thought, and it is a terrible way to find out." Geoff Lawson, who served as Pakistan coach until last October, feared the team would suffer from being cast into a nomadic existence. "Cricket won't be played in Pakistan for the foreseeable future," Lawson said. "Pakistan look like they will become a wandering cricket team now. They will be playing at neutral venues, because you can guarantee that there won't be games there [at home]. Obviously, there is no chance of the Champions Trophy or the World Cup going ahead there." In a small vote of confidence, Cricket Australia confirmed its intention to proceed with an ODI series against Pakistan which, due to security concerns, had already been shifted to the United Arab Emirates. "We do not expect this to affect the series (in the UAE)," CA spokesman Peter Young said. "We are due to complete a security inspection tour at the end of the week, and that is expected to go ahead as planned." (With additonal reporting from Nagraj Gollapudi) Alex Brown is deputy editor of Cricinfo © Cricinfo

OMG!!! Someone tell Alex Brown, David Morgan, Lorgat, Akram, Waqar Younis, NZC chief executive Justin Vaughan, security consultants, Geoff Lawson and others that there is a time and place for these things, and saying these utterances only complicates the issues and does more harm!!! I mean if Dhoni shouldn't say anything at this time about not touring these, then neither should these people right lurker?

[Lurker]

Yeah, I guess Dhoni must have been asleep when 1. Playing plenty of matches in Pakistan, with a full security force present, 2. Meeting the ministers there including Musharruf, 3. Being briefed by the ICC and BCCI security teams every time visiting Pakistan or for upcoming tours 4. Being briefed by the local security forces It's ironic that you say one should keep quiet if you have not much idea of whats going on. When was the last time you toured Pakistan, were briefed by various security teams and saw at ground level what was happening in Pak?

If it is my comments you are so worried about how about you throw a mike in my face and see what my comments are?? It find it ridiculous that your comments about Security briefing has absolutely nothing to do with Dhoni's comments and yet you seem to be unaware of it. The biggest critics of Pakistan tours (read Aussies, Saffers, English etc) are keeping mum but out comes Dhoni with his comments.

Maybe it's time you take your own advice, and you know, keep quiet since you don't know what's going on.

I shall let it slide as another of the immature comments you make from time to time.

Right, the 14 gunmen assualt a foreign cricket team and ICC refs, harming a few and killing half a dozen people with grenades, rpgs, automatic weapons in an organized attack, but some how a few words by Dhoni half a world away have complicated the situation.

Course it does. Nothing galvanizes Pakistan more than India. You should show me any expert on South Asian who thinks on the contrary. An Indian skippers comments at the aftermath of Pakistan's cricket darkest hour is not going to go down very well. MSD should just have been gracious, just like Vettori was, and instead of talking about the current situation we would not be wasting time discussing MSD's utterances. xxx

[Lurker]

It works exactly that way. Pakistan is the origin of these terrorists and India is the victim. The two simply cannot be equated. However many times it's stated' date= it's still not enough. We are incredibly incredibly lucky to have cancelled our tour and Dhoni is expressing himself in a state of immense relief, which is completely normal and also the right thing to do. It's akin to that guy the other day stating on TV how lucky he was to have missed his flight, which later crashed and all aboard died.

You can keep thinking that line of thought and be happy with it. The world doesnt work that way. If I get an assignment in UK say and I am aware that Pakistan born militants are waiting to strike there I would safely not pick that assignment. I would think that goes for most people, you may be an avberration. xxx

[Gambit]

You can keep thinking that line of thought and be happy with it. The world doesnt work that way. If I get an assignment in UK say and I am aware that Pakistan born militants are waiting to strike there I would safely not pick that assignment. xxx

Finally after 3-4 posts, you have grasped the situation. If the person who took the assignment after you rejected it got shot and killed, you would go around saying 'Phew! Thank god I turned it down'. That's exactly what Dhoni has done.

I would think that goes for most people, you may be an avberration.

Going by this thread, you seem to be the glaring aberration.

[flamy]

I can't even begin to imagine how would I have reacted had it been our team in SL's situation. Thank god for the 186th time today that we cancelled this tour.

WURD. I prolly (not at all joking) would have failed my semester and gone into depression - because if it was Indian team, the attack would have been much more gory.

[veer]

most people are talking very PC type talks these days on terrorists issue.. and it only makes it worst.. say it what actually is and try to get solution..

[zubinpepsi]

give lurker a break guys.. he is still in the sleepy mode and his posts r meant to b somewhere else to show solidatory to them.... he willl realize once he wakes up completely..

[King Tendulkar]

give lurker a break guys.. he is still in the sleepy mode and his posts r meant to b somewhere else to show solidatory to them.... he willl realize once he wakes up completely..

One thing for sure is he will never wake up

[Fontaine]

If it is my comments you are so worried about how about you throw a mike in my face and see what my comments are?? It find it ridiculous that your comments about Security briefing has absolutely nothing to do with Dhoni's comments and yet you seem to be unaware of it. The biggest critics of Pakistan tours (read Aussies, Saffers, English etc) are keeping mum but out comes Dhoni with his comments.

You know nothing about the situation there, Dhoni does having toured there and gotten security briefs etc etc. So yes, you are a hypocrite because he DOES KNOW far more about the situation as a professional cricketer so his opinion is very much informed.

I shall let it slide as another of the immature comments you make from time to time.

Let it slide? What nonsense. Have you been to Pakistan? Been informed first hand of the security concerns by informed officials etc etc like Dhoni? Since you DIDN'T answer the question, I'm guessing you haven't so that's why I said it is YOU who are un informed, lacking knowledge about the exact situation so you should perhaps follow your own advice unless you're "Do as I say, not as I do" types.

Nothing galvanizes Pakistan more than India. You should show me any expert on South Asian who thinks on the contrary. An Indian skippers comments at the aftermath of Pakistan's cricket darkest hour is not going to go down very well. MSD should just have been gracious, just like Vettori was, and instead of talking about the current situation we would not be wasting time discussing MSD's utterances.

Right, right, everyone from high ranking ICC officials, Kiwis, ex Pak cricketers, Australian Security advisors, etc etc have said that not only it's not safe to tour Pak for years, but the upcoming WC should be taken away. All Dhoni expresses is relief that his team dodged a bullet (literally) and somehow the wraith of Pakistan is going to pour down upon Dhoni and his team because of it. Paranoid much?