Boria Majumdar in Dubai
It was 8 pm, and all of a sudden there was a flutter among the Pakistani media present at the ICC Academy. Mohsin Naqvi, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) president, or may I say the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chair, had walked in with a few security people and was headed straight for the Pakistan practice arena.
As PCB chief, he can surely make an appearance and inspire his team. It isn’t unnatural by any means and yet it is. Pakistan haven’t done their almost mandatory press conference for the last two games. They had almost boycotted the Asia Cup. They were on the verge of giving a walkover to UAE over the Andy Pycroft issue. None of what they have done is natural and Naqvi has been the man behind it all. When such a person comes to practice, the one thing that results from it is pressure. It puts humungous pressure on the players and not always can it be the best thing to happen.
I asked myself last afternoon as to why Pakistan would boycott the press conferences? Is it because they don’t want to answer questions on the handshake-gate? Is it because they don’t want to answer questions on the Pycroft issue or is it because they don’t want to answer questions on whether India have a mental edge over them? Or is it an attempt to deflect pressure and keep the players insulated from outside noise?
Whichever way I look at it, the fact is that it could be seen as an attempt to insulate the players from the pressure of this game. And that’s what brings me back to Naqvi. His presence in training was surely the talking point last evening. Did it help the players? Will they not feel the extra bit of pressure? While no one will say a word for who he is, does it actually help the team ahead of a match like this?
India, may I say, have kept things simple. They had an optional practice and Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma and Varun Chakravarthy turned up with the coaching staff. They trained hard and looked relaxed. Pakistan, on the other hand, avoided the media and trained with plenty going on in their minds. Players shouting “6-0 6-0” is evidence where the focus is.
Disgraceful as it is, it shouldn’t really bother India. The game has to be won with bat and ball and that’s where India seem way more focused. Add to all of this the presence of Naqvi. It is as if Pakistan did not already know that the stakes were at their highest. That the players weren’t already under unbelievable pressure. Not always do their board chief land up in training. They now know that this is not just another game. It is a game against India coming at the back of a bad defeat just a week ago.
The truth is that this isn’t just a game of cricket. There is a lot that is going on backstage and no one is immune. And yet, whichever team deals with pressure better will be the winners at the end. This is where Naqvi may have just complicated matters for Pakistan by landing up at the ICC Academy. Or so we think.
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