Bajrang Dal shadow over ICC Women's World Cup

By Sandeep Sahu The Pakistani team for the ICC women’s World Cup is trying hard to convey the impression that it is having a whale of time at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack - gorging on sweets like rasogolla, chhena poda and rasabali. “Things are so much like they are back home,” gushed team manager Ayesha Asaar after the first day of practice at the stadium on Monday. “I am sure we will go back home with sweet memories,” chimed captain Sana Mir. Coach Basit Ali has not tired of thanking the hosts, Odisha Cricket Association (OCA), since the team landed at the stadium But deep down, the team knows that its stay at the 1, 000-year old city could so easily turn into a nightmare. The Bajrang Dal, which has been at the forefront of the widespread protests against the presence of the Pakistani players on Orissa soil, has given a call for ‘Cuttack Chalo’ and threatened to assemble a crowd of 20,000 people in a bid to disrupt proceedings on February 1, the day the Pak team is scheduled to play its first match. Given the success of the Cuttack Bandh organised by Bajrang Dal, with support from other organisations like Utkal Bharat and Kalinga Sena, on January 24, the threat can hardly be taken lightly. The very fact that the hosts found no place other than a yet-to-be-inaugurated Club House inside the stadium (it was to be inaugurated on 1 February) for the Pakistani team to stay gives a fair idea about the kind of problems they have on their hands. This is the first time that players of an ICC organised match or tournament at the Barabati have stayed in Cuttack – and inside the stadium at that – and not in Bhubaneswar, which has the best hotels in the state. [caption id=“attachment_608257” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Pakistan women’s cricket team gather before the start of practice. Sandeep Sahu[/caption] Though nobody is willing to go on record on the matter, it is reliably learnt that the decision to house the Pak team at the OCA Club inside the stadium was taken by the host association and the state government only after several star hotels in Bhubaneswar and some in Cuttack refused to accommodate the Pakistani players citing security reasons. In desperation, the organisers apparently approached some smaller hotels in the Odisha Capital, but to no avail. “Why should we take chances when bigger hotels, with more human and other resources at their command, are refusing to do so?” asked the manager of a small hotel in Bhubaneswar. When it was pointed out that the Bhubaneswar-Cuttack police Commissionerate had assured foolproof security for the players’ stay, he shot back; “They had also assured of all security even when Greg Chappell was slapped by someone at the Bhubaneswar airport, hadn’t they?” OCA Secretary Asirbad Behera, however, claims that many hotels – both in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack – were willing to accommodate the Pakistani women’s cricketers. He even cited the names of a few like ‘Empire’ and ‘Hindustan International’ in Bhubaneswar and ‘Pramod’ in Cuttack. In that case, why then was the decision taken to put them up at the OCA Club? “You must appreciate the fact that Pakistani team is here not for a day or two but a whole fortnight. Travelling from the hotel – whether in Bhubaneswar or in Cuttack – to the Barabati for practice and for matches would have posed a security risk to the players. That is why we took the decision, as per the advice of senior police officials, to accommodate them inside the stadium where it would be easier to provide them security,” he said by way of an explanation. So, Barabati it will be for the Pakistani women cricketers till the end of the Group ‘B’ matches, which had to be shifted first from Mumbai to Gujarat and then finally to Orissa. They will be playing all their matches there while the other teams in the group – Australia, New Zealand and South Africa – have some of their matches scheduled at the DRIEMS ground at Tangi on the outskirts of the city. The one-time fort has now been converted to a fortress with policemen swarming all over the place to ensure that no harm is done to the guests from across the border. Entry for the matches would be strictly by invitation and no tickets would be sold for the fans. “What is the point in organising such an event here then?” asks an irate fan In Cuttack. [caption id=“attachment_608265” align=“alignleft” width=“448”] Pakistan team members warming up before practice. Sandeep Sahu[/caption] Fans in Bhubaneswar are, however, convinced that the decision to get the Pakistanis stay, practice and play all their matches at Barabati had less to do with security and more with the long-running battle between Cuttack and Bhubaneswar as far as hosting of international cricket matches is concerned. At one point of time, the well-equipped Railway Stadium in Bhubaneswar, where the other teams in the Group are practicing, had emerged a strong contender for the matches involving Pakistan from the security point of view. But nobody quite knows how the wheels turned and Barabati won the day. Soumitra Das, an avid cricket buff in Bhubaneswar, believes he has the answer to this poser. “Had the matches been held here, the OCA bosses would have found it difficult to justify the holding of every single international event at Barabati in future,” he says. The Cuttack-Bhubaneswar running battle apart, people in the state are surprised that OCA thought it fit to rush in where associations much stronger than it like MCA and GCA feared to tread. It is a matter of conjecture whether OCA had an assurance of support from the Naveen Patnaik government before it decided to accept the BCCI offer to host the Group ‘B’ matches. But even if it did have the blessings of the government, it is clear that it was taking a big gamble that could make or mar its reputation for good. If all goes well, it can always turn back and say “I told you so” and demand its pound of flesh from BCCI. If, however, things do go wrong, the OCA will have nowhere to hide.