On Saturday evening, in four different ways Shashank Manohar was asked what objections the Indian board had to playing a series with Pakistan in the UAE.
First, is there a particular reason why you do not want to play here? “No” he said, “we want to play in India.”
Then, it has been said that you are not keen to play in the UAE. “It has been said by whom? Did I ever say this?,” he said.
Third, so you are saying you have no issues with playing in the UAE? “Presently, there is no question. Presently, we gave an option to Pakistan asking them whether they will come to India. Pakistan was to get back to me, they haven’t got back to me,” he answered.
And finally, are you saying the BCCI has no issues with the UAE as a venue? “I am telling you because that is never a reason. Presently what I have asked Shaharyar Khan is whether they are willing to come to India to play their games in India,” he said.
It was immaculate non-replying. Before he arrived in Dubai he was only a little more forthcoming to other publications. The gist was: “We have our reasons for not playing in the UAE, but we will not tell anyone what they are”.
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At an intellectual level, it is the rationalism of the playground: “I don’t want to play anymore, I am taking my stuff away and I am not telling you why”.
We, then, are left to guess.
The most likely reason seems to be that Manohar worries India playing here could lead cricket down the same alley it found itself in the 1990s, when Sharjah was seen as the epicentre of cricket’s fixing storm.
If so, it betrays a seriously outdated understanding of how cricket is corrupted; in itself that is worrying because he has taken over as the head of a board still trying to clean up its most prized product.
Corruption, Manohar should understand, is not bound by geographical boundaries. When the 2013 Indian Premier League (IPL) spot-fixing scandal emerged, the three games at the centre of the investigation were played in Jaipur, Mohali and Mumbai.
In 2010, Lord’s was the venue of cricket’s most infamous spot-fixing scandal; Danish Kaneria was punished for spot-fixing in a game played in Durham, north-east England. Bangladesh has had problems with its Twenty20 league.
If it is indeed Manohar’s logic, that staying away physically from the UAE will help keep Indian cricket clean, then perhaps they should also not play at some venues within India. Or in Bangladesh, where they went earlier this year, or Lord’s or, generally, the city of London.
It is unsustainable logic, because it is not venues that are suspect. If a player or a team is willing to be corrupted, ways will be found in Trent Bridge or Timbuktu. It will not be magic either, just the wonders of modern communication (insert your own little joke here about Manohar’s habit of not carrying mobile phones).
That line of reasoning also ignores the fact that six full members have made full or partial tours to the UAE since Pakistan began using it as a home, some of them multiple times.
None of them have had any problems before coming here, or any while here. India played an ODI series here in 2006.
A number of Associate teams play here regularly. The International Cricket Council (ICC) has held three tournaments here since 2012. Less than two years ago, the Indian board was happy to stage part of the IPL here, though, it must be pointed out, Manohar was publicly against it even then, on the same grounds.
The only reasonable conclusion to draw is that Manohar imagines his players to be more susceptible than others.
It has been suggested Manohar is pushing for this series in India simply because that is where they make most money, and in the past two years have hosted only one full series. The BCCI has long wanted to establish a fixed home season calendar, as Australia and England have.
That is perfectly within their rights. They should. But the agreement for this to be Pakistan’s home series was signed in May 2014. The right thing to do is to honour it. It really is as simple as that.
osamiuddin@thenational.ae
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