This piece comes, to distort a quotation from the bard, “more in anger and even more in sorrow”, at the affairs of Pakistan cricket.

The entire situation has been messed up by some inept and incompetent handling of matters by the top brass of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). The management, particularly in the handling of the Indian team’s proposed tour of Pakistan (read UAE) this winter, proved very spineless and gutless and danced without thinking to the tune played by the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI).

The end result of all the one way traffic (travel to India and ICC meetings) by our cricket bosses who at the slightest pretext took wing to India to get nothing but egg (sunny side up) on their faces.

The latest (third week October) shameful and ill-mannered attitude of the Indian cricket authorities shown to their visiting guests — PCB chairman, his wife, chairman of the PCB executive committee and the chief operating officer — is ample testimony to the belief that India wants Pakistan to be isolated in the cricketing world.

The timing that the quartet chose to visit Mumbai was ill-conceived. Before embarking on this ‘hazardous’ journey they should have taken cognizance of the disruption of Mr Khurshid Kasuri’s book launch ceremony (saved by the bravery and determination of the host Mr Kulkarni), cancellation of the concert of famous singer Ghulam Ali and threats to young and popular Pakistani film artistes by Shiv Sena.

This theory is given further credence by the attempt to stop the performance of a Pakistani drama company in Gurgaon. Space and time do not permit to go into all the details so a quick look should suffice.

That the International Cricket Council (ICC) also does not consider India safe for their officials is proved by the withdrawal of Aleem Dar from the umpiring panel at Chennai and Mumbai in the India vs South Africa ODIs.

Wasim Akram and Shoaib Akhtar, who were on the panel of commentators for these two matches, were considering pulling out as a result of travel advisories.

Being a former Foreign Service officer Mr Khan is very particular about protocol. He went to India to condole the death of Mr Dalmiya; now he wanted to go and congratulate his successor Mr Manohar.

The invitation from the Indian board was verbal and perhaps given in return for Mr Shahryar Khan’s desire to visit India to felicitate the new president of BCCI.

According to Mr Khan the verbal invitation was followed by a written one.

What appeared on TV shown by Mr Khan the paper was not an invitaion but a ‘To whom it may concern’ letter giving the names and details of the four travellers — a document usually required for visa purposes.

When the messages from India are clear, why is the PCB unclear on what to do?

What followed is well known, well documented and now widely viewed, discussed and mooted. It does not take a detective to conclude from the video clips that the ‘friendly demonstration’ by the 40 or 50 Shiv Sena hoodlums was stage managed by BCCI.

The crowd reached the desk (clear of any paper or even a pencil) of Mr Manohar with consummate ease and without disturbance to any person or property.

He almost ‘greeted’ them and calmly listened to their protests and demands and that was that. There were a few camerapersons from some TV channels on hand to film the occasion and having done the job they left to file the story to the world.

The Pakistani guests were advised that it was not possible for the meeting to be held at the Wankhede and will be rescheduled. Mr Sethi and the COO left for Dubai. What happened to Mr Sethi’s purpose of going on this trip to canvass for the Pakistan Super League (PSL)? And why could not he have squeezed in a request to ask the IPL chief Mr Shukla to allow Pakistani players to be part of the IPL?

Mr and Mrs Khan were left to go to Delhi (self respect and dignity demanded that they leave for home immediately) and after waiting and waiting for the telephone call which never came through.

They, however, went to the Shukla residence for a courtesy call. This part of the visit, if my memory serves me right was not mentioned by Mr Khan in his talk to the media on his return to Lahore.

Once back to base from India and Dubai respectively Mrs Khan and Sethi came out with statements which show that not only are they not on the same page but also that there seems to be a serious conflict between the two. It had been simmering but now seems to have reached a boiling point.

A look at the following news quotation will illustrate what I am trying to say:

Pulling out of or boycotting the ICC World Twenty20 is not the answer. Pakistan should lobby and ask the ICC to shift the hosting of this event to another country from unsafe India.

Shahryar said that after the protests, the BCCI “did not care” to reschedule the meeting for a different time, leaving him stranded for nearly 36 hours.

However, Najam Sethi, the head of the PCB’s executive committee, contradicted Shahryar’s statement, saying that the BCCI was in touch with the PCB “at every stage”.

“Shahryar Khan thought Shashank Manohar would phone him, but he did not call him [after the cancellation],” Sethi said.

“I shouldn’t say it, and Shahryar has also not revealed it, but when we were in the hotel, Manohar was communicating with us through his wife [who was] sitting in the same room as Shahryar’s wife. At every stage, we knew what was happening. We were told [by the BCCI] that they will stay in touch after the meeting was cancelled.”

It was only five months earlier in May when Mr and Mrs Khan were ill treated at the Indian immigrations. They do not seem to have learnt any lesson from the insulting attitude of the Indian Immigration authorities meted out to them when they landed unannounced in Kolkata from Dhaka then.

As the former head honcho of Pakistan’s foreign affairs the chairman was either blissfully unaware of the rules of travel to India (visas stipulate points of entry and exit and these are usually the same) or was over confident that being a former High Commissioner to India, Pakistan’s ex-foreign secretary and now the chairman PCB, he and his begum sahiba would waltz into the open arms of the waiting Indian government functionaries to a red carpet reception.

They had to spend about four hours at the immigration before being allowed in. Adding insult to injury was the fact that no one (not even a clerk, leave alone the BCCI’s secretary or the president — the latter in any case was unwell) was at hand to say hello; hi.

The correct and dignified way of dealing with this situation would have been for Mr and Mrs Khan to take the next flight out of the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose (formerly Dum Dum) International Airport.

This major incident which should have been taken up at the highest levels was pooh-poohed by the chairman as perhaps a misunderstanding just because he did not want to ruffle any feathers be they Indian or Pakistani; international or domestic.

I am not aware but Mr Shahryar Khan may have visited India again after this ‘warm and enthusiastic welcome’ for meetings (and/or shopping) in pursuit of wooing India to tour UAE for our home series — even if a short one — as enshrined in the much trumpeted MOU (why not a proper contract?) signed between the two boards.

However, he did go to condole the passing away of the BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya and take that opportunity to further discuss India’s proposed tour of UAE.

Did Mr Khan visit India to condole Dalmiya’s death or was the real purpose canvassing for the Indian team to tour UAE.

A news item from early October where the adviser on foreign policy and national security Sartaj Aziz said that the Pakistan and India series is not in the pipeline while the PCB chairman said that a final decision about Pakistan-India cricket series is expected soon seem to have given conflicting opinions and is quite baffling.

It will not be out of place to point out here that this series had been constantly discussed by PCB top brass and BCCI middle management on the side lines of ICC meetings.

The BCCI’s excuse is the usual old one: we cannot say anything without the permission of our government. Give a better and new one.

But the interesting fact is that the BCCI have not yet sent a request for permission of the Indian government. It is now reported that after Shahryar Khan “had stiffened [his] sinnews and summon[ed] up his blood” and written a final letter to the BCCI (perhaps to the Secretary Anurag Thakur again) a response has been forthcoming where the PCB has been advised to approach the Indian government directly for permission. Talk back to me!

Why have Shahryar Khan and the entire PCB bent over backwards and not cared for their and the cricket fans’ dignity, self respect and pride? The answer is money.

The broadcasting rights have been sold by PCB to an Indian company Ten Sports (and of whom the BCCI do not approve of) for a reported US $144.5 million.

Of these about US $100 million are payable only if the series against India materialise.

Although the PCB’s coffers should be overflowing with cash unless the lavish expenditure of the board and also the PSL have dried them up, this US$ 100 million would be helpful as kharch i pandan! The PCB or is it the PSL have just sanctioned a small extra remuneration (50 per cent of their salaries) to some senior managers and officers of PCB who are also working for the PSL.

I am all for paying the employees good salaries and allowances. But it is obvious that these talented managers were not fully employed in the PCB as they had enough time and energy left to share the burden of the arduous jobs in the PSL.

Another point which emerges in one’s mind is that Shahryar Khan is regarded by some as an expert on Indian affairs with excellent connections and getting the winter series going is a task he would like to deliver to prove this right.

Pulling out of or boycotting the ICC World Twenty20 is not the answer. Pakistan should lobby and ask the ICC to shift the hosting of this event to another country from unsafe India and also ask that the inaugural match, which is usually an India vs Pakistan event and the most lucrative for ICC and broadcasters, should be placed down the order. Also ask for India and Pakistan to be in different groups.

Meanwhile, we and the PCB should concentrate on bringing international cricket back to Pakistan. Request the ICC, the other boards and neutral observers to send their security teams to Pakistan to asses the security here for any future home series.

In the end, congratulations to the Pakistan Test team who bounced back to win the Dubai Test. Great performances by Younis, Misbah, Asad Shafiq, Sarfaraz, Yasir, Wahab, Zulfiqar, Imran, Hafeez, Shan and Shoaib. Best of luck!

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, November 1st, 2015

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