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Rivals turn off old road

Raghunath Rau
NEW DELHI. May 26: It may have been 'jihad' on the cricket field. But off it there was , _ unprecedented
bonhomie between Indian and Pakistani players and also between Pakistanis and the Indian public during the ongoing Independence Cup tournament.
Throughout their stay in the country — which was unusually long because of the scheduling of matches in the four-nation tournament — the Pakistani cricketers met with warmth and affection at all the centres where they halted. They also reciprocated in kind, patiently signing for autographs and posing for photographs.
One incident graphically illustrated the "special relationship" in the cricketing community of the two countries. Off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq, making the rounds of the capital. landed up one-day in Chand™ ■Chowk.-.JheJamecb
shopping centre of Old Delhi.
Saqlain found a group of boys playing cricket on the sidewalk, which was unusually deserted because of a traders' strike. Saqlain decided to Join them, and as he took up a bat one of the boys said to him: "I will bowl to you like Saqlain Mushtaq."
Saqlain smilingly agreed. But as he took off his gloves the young Saqlain-in-the-making stared at him and said, "But you look like Saqlain." The Pakistani had to agree that he was the real Saqlain. Thereafter Chandui Chowk came to a virtual standstill as word spread, and Saqlain was mobbed by an ever-growing and friendly crowd. It was with some difficulty that he could extricate himself and make his way back to his car.
It was the same at other places in the capital as well. The Pakistanis were a bit peeved that their team man-agementMlould.Mot /Mi th Ln to visit Agra and nearby areas. But they-hjade. up Jot thatby lapping tip’Delhi.
The players spent a whole week in the capital, during which they had net practice daily at the National Stadium. A habitude of that place is the
famed former India left-arm spinner Bishan Singh Bedi. Then it would be the turn of the Pakistanis to crowd around Bedi and listen to his cricketing anecdotes, of which he has a
limitless fund.
Bedi also willingly gave tips to the Pakistani spinners. Bedi had drawn some flak at home some years ago when he had done the same with Pakistani left-arm spinner Iqbal Qasim. But this time there was no murmur of protest.
The same scenes of friendship were repeated at Chandigarh where Pakistan played Hie opennm match <>! the tournament against New Zealand, and at Gawlior, where they played Sri Lanka. In fact, shopping at Chandigarh became a difficult exercise because of the over-enthusiastic crowds which followed the players.
The only sour note for the Pakistanis, though a minor one. was the behaviour of the crowd inside the stadium during the Chandigarh match. The bewildered Pakistanis wondered why they should be booed in such fashion, especially since the opponents. New Zealand, were far greater. Strangers to the Iritiians. BUt that is perhaps a -suk^ect for psychological study.
However, even that irritant was to a great extent removed at Madras, even though the opponents this time were none else than India. Of course, the crowd was rooting for India. But after a period of stunned silence Saeed Anwar’s matchless century was generously applauded, and so was Pakistan's final victory.
Even otherwise, the Pakistanis' three-day stay in the southern metropolis was not only peaceful but was marked by particular warmth. That must have erased the memories of another southern city, Bangalore. last year, when boorish crowd behaviour rubbed salt into the wound of Pakistani defeat during the World Cup.
The Indian team members from the northern part of the country also share a common language with the Pakistanis. Pakistani skipper Rameez Raja accosted Indian coach Madan Lal at Madras and asked him about his job. Madan replied that one had to earn a living somehow. All that in fluent Punjabi before the two hugged each other.
That episode emphasised the underlying bond between the two teams. Left to themselves, the players would like to have more such exchanges on each "other's soil.
Courtesy: India Abroad News Service