I say, bring the politics into sport. Its too hard to really separate the two, especially when in some contexts where sports teams represent countries - which are primarily political constructs.So use it properly, and not like kindergarteners.
So, India, do what you need to wrt the Pakistani cricket team (but be smart about it, 'cricket diplomacy' is a tool too).
But this IPL business is private teams contracting with individual players. If there's any political slant to it, it is on the lines of increasing people-to-people contact in ways that bypass governments and other powers-that-be.This works for peace in general which in turn actually works for India, I think.
If most IPL teams have 2 or 3 players from Pakistan (not for show, that's probably how the talent breaks down in cricket) then what is Lashkar going to do - "ooh lets bomb Pune because our man Afridi is winning matches for them"? , see how well that plays on Pakistani TV because Afridi is likely to say "wtf, you ****s".
This is just daft on a massive scale, for political reasons and for sporting reasons.
So, India, do what you need to wrt the Pakistani cricket team (but be smart about it, 'cricket diplomacy' is a tool too).
But this IPL business is private teams contracting with individual players. If there's any political slant to it, it is on the lines of increasing people-to-people contact in ways that bypass governments and other powers-that-be.This works for peace in general which in turn actually works for India, I think.
If most IPL teams have 2 or 3 players from Pakistan (not for show, that's probably how the talent breaks down in cricket) then what is Lashkar going to do - "ooh lets bomb Pune because our man Afridi is winning matches for them"? , see how well that plays on Pakistani TV because Afridi is likely to say "wtf, you ****s".
This is just daft on a massive scale, for political reasons and for sporting reasons.