It was a much awaited moment. The people of Jammu and Kashmir had waited for five long years to witness this. It was an indication that conditions in Kashmir are normal. There was a huge crowd at the Sher-E-Kashmir Stadium waiting for the Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) cricket team to play against the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA).
As the JK team, the officials and the chief minister of Kashmir waited for the Services team on the ground no one turned up. The pullout created a furor!
It was a tip-off that was the culprit! An adverse intelligence probably advised the military to refrain from sending the Services team to Jammu and Kashmir for a Ranji plate division match to be held on Tuesday the 3rd of November.
They were warned of some kind of militant plan to mix with the spectators and create disturbances during the match.
Furious Farooque Abdullah, the Union Minister for new and renewable energy, condemning the services team said, “I will take this up with the government of India. We were all waiting for the Services. We were here to welcome them. It looks very bad that of all teams, Services decided not to come. It shows a very bad image of India.”
.The BCCI immediately banned them from playing any more Ranji Trophy Matches this year.
Although the Services team claims to have tendered an apology to them asking for fresh dates, yet the BCCI secretary N Srinivasan refuses to have received any kind of communication on this issue.
According to him, “The SSCB forfeited the match, having expressed its inability to send its cricket team to Srinagar. The SSCB has therefore been disqualified from participating in the 2009-10 edition of the Ranji Trophy, in accordance with the rules of the BCCI pertaining to Domestic Tournaments.”
Pallam Raju, the State Defense Minister tried to pacify BCCI by saying that the decision had been taken at a lower level, and that they owed an apology to them. They had realized their folly and were now ready to play. But BCCI refused to budge.
“We have taken the decision to disqualify the Services team from playing in this year’s Ranji Trophy. Since the decision has already been taken we will not change it,” reiterated Rajiv Shukla, the BCCI spokesman on Tuesday.
An absolutely infuriated Omar Abdullah the chief minister of J&K criticized the army and said, “Army has made tall claims about its successes in the state against the militant groups. The incident clearly shows the double-standards of the Armed forces operating here.”