Even as the match-fixing scandal slipped out of the headlines ­ albeit not completely ­ there were other cricketing events off the field that attracted considerable attention. On the field, the Indian team had a mixed year, doing well at home and faring badly abroad as has come to be the norm. But there were two rather disturbing developments that left a profound impact on the game in the country ­ the Mike Denness controversy, which snowballed into an international incident, and the fact that India-Pakistan cricketing ties touched a new nadir.

India’s withdrawal from the Championship could have serious repercussions. At the ACC meeting in May, a system by which a side failing to honour contractual obligations must offer compensation to the rival team was agreed upon. For long, Pakistan had been demanding such a compensation clause to be included in the ICC's 10-year calendar for Test-playing countries.

The Denness affair, which directly affected Indian cricket, created a furore not only in this country but all over the cricketing world. The events are too recent to be recounted again, but one shudders to think how close events moved to a near-catastrophe before good sense prevailed and the two sides, the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), pulled up at the brink. While the crisis shook world cricket and raised a number of questions, it is best to look at it from a positive angle. The formation of the Referees Commission and the understanding that clearer yardsticks should be given to the men in charge are steps in the right direction, and ultimately it is hoped that the game will benefit from the sorry episode.

A truly disturbing development during 2001 was the deterioration of India-Pakistan cricketing ties. The death blow was struck in August, when the Indian government decided that the team would not take part in the Asian Test Championship. Throughout the year, the portents were not encouraging, with officials on both sides blowing hot and cold, and Indian Sports Minister Uma Bharati and External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh making statements that did not help in easing the already-tense situation. The skirmishes in Kashmir and the failure of the Vajpayee- Musharaff summit at Agra added to the strained atmosphere, and by the end of the year, cricketing relations between the two countries came to be virtually non-existent.

The situation was clearly out of the hands of the BCCI. As Board officials repeatedly said, it was a government decision and not in their control. Soon after the withdrawal from the Asian Test Championship, Zakir Sayed, the secretary of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), accused India of going back on its "commitment" to play.

It was of course not the first time that India had withdrawn from a tournament involving Pakistan. India had cancelled a scheduled tour of Pakistan in December 2000 and then pulled out of the Sharjah series in April. They have repeatedly refused to participate in any bilateral cricket series with Pakistan, whom they accuses of backing cross-border terrorism in Kashmir.

The importance of the decision to withdraw from the ATC was conveyed by the fact that it was taken at a high-level meeting between Prime Minister Vajpayee, Home Minister Advani and Jaswant Singh. Their discussions were based on a letter written by Uma Bharati to the Prime Minister suggesting that India should not participate in the Championship.

Bharati for long has been considered a hawk on the issue. A firebrand, she has always believed in speaking her mind; on the eve of the withdrawal, Bharati thundered that the decision could not be forced upon the government. She was reacting to the statement made by Asian Cricket Foundation President Jagmohan Dalmiya that India should convey their decision by a certain date or the Championship would go ahead without them. "We will not take a decision merely on the threat issued by someone," was Bharati’s retort.

At about the same time, Jaswant Singh said that the Indian government was against cricket matches between India and Pakistan bilaterally, as the one-dayers between the two countries and their televised aspect made them "less cricket and more gladiatorial contests." Replying to a question on the government's decision not to play cricket with Pakistan, he added that, given the prevailing atmosphere, it was not advisable for extended bilateral cricket tours.

It is commonly believed that politics and sport should not mix. But where India-Pakistan cricket ties are concerned, keeping politics and sport apart is next to impossible. There is little doubt that much hinged on the Vajpayee-Musharraf summit at Agra.The failure of that meeting meant many things, including the fact that cricketing ties would suffer.

India’s withdrawal from the Championship could have serious repercussions. At the ACC meeting in May, a system by which a side failing to honour contractual obligations must offer compensation to the rival team was agreed upon. For long, Pakistan had been demanding such a compensation clause to be included in the ICC's 10-year calendar for Test-playing countries. After claiming that India's decision to cancel its scheduled tour to Pakistan last year had resulted in substantial financial losses, the Pakistan Cricket Board had urged the ICC to introduce such a clause to deter any country from defaulting on playing commitments in future. Being a signatory at the ACC meeting thus put India at a considerable disadvantage.

Also, according to the ICC's 10-year tour programme, India is scheduled to play against Pakistan in Pakistan three times. In addition to this, India has also agreed to participate in the Asia Cup, to be played in Pakistan in 2002. At the moment, given the current situation, nothing can be certain about India-Pakistan cricket ties. Recent developments have turned even the supreme optimist into an out-and-out cynic. Under such circumstances, can one be blamed for reasoning that the future of India-Pakistan cricketing ties is bleak? There was a time when the two countries did not meet on the cricket field for more than 17 years. Are we in for something similar again?

Things were comparatively quiet on the match-fixing front, but there was still an uneasy feeling that the controversy could rear its ugly head at any time. The cases concerning Ajay Jadeja and Mohammad Azharuddin are still in court, and they are likely to drag on, considering the complexities of the Indian judicial system.

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