Looking Ahead

Indian and Pakistani cricketers and officials responded cautiously to probing questions from over 40 journalists at a press conference held at the Toronto Cricket, Curling and Skating Club on the eve of the first Sahara Cup match of 1998.

Pakistani player-coach Javed Miandad and captain Aamir Sohail dismissed as "rumours" the alleged release of an interim report from the Justice Chaudhary investigation which named Saleem Malik and Ijaz Ahmed as key players accused of matchfixing. Sohail emphasized that his team, including these two players, was "here to play cricket."

Indian captain Mohammed Azharuddin supported the board's decision to send a strong team to the Commonwealth Games in Malaysia. He expressed confidence in his team, saying that they were here to play their best cricket. Azharuddin deflected questions about tensions resulting from the nuclear race in the subcontinent as "political" and said it had no bearing on the series.

On a lighter note, Miandad doubted if the Pakistani players would select him to play any games, although they might call upon him to don pads in an emergency.

In response to bitter complaints, International Management Group officials also assured journalists that the incidents which led to two subcontinental photographers being threatened with arrest last year would not be repeated. Journalists were promised greater freedom on the grounds. Over 40 journalists are expected from the subcontinent.

The organizers also specified that megaphones, alcohol and other items would be banned from the ground to avoid a repetition of last year's incident when Inzimam-ul-Haq charged a spectator, Shiv Kumar Thind, who had taunted him over a megaphone.

In his column in the Toronto Star yesterday, the Star's former Editorial Page editor Haroon Siddiqui strongly criticized these restrictions announced earlier and IMG's handling of the incident involving Inzimam. Siddiqui, quite correctly, objected to casting the altercation as an Indian-Pakistani conflict in a city where these communities peacefully coexist.

Pakistani skipper Sohail seemed pleased with this year's wicket which Miandad described as an "English wicket" similar to Edgbaston. Last year, the current Indian vice-captain, Saurav Ganguly, had displayed his all-round abilities on a wicket that, until the last game, supported seam and swing bowling, a performance that won him the Man of the Series award.

This year, the Toronto grounds are in fine trim and the pitches continue to be well-grassed which means that, unless playing conditions radically change, we may well see a series that is dominated by seamers such as Mohammed Zahid, Aaqib Javed, Ajit Agarkar, Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad