Cricket diplomacy: A pitch leaders from India, sub-continent love to play on

PM Narendra Modi with Australian PM Anthony Albanese before the start of the 4th Test cricket match between India and Australia, at Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad, on March 9, 2023. (PTI Photo)

Diplomacy is a tough pitch to bat on but cricket has often provided Indian leaders and their counterparts in the subcontinent an opportunity to boost bilateral ties while bonding over the game.

Cricket diplomacy was back in the spotlight on Thursday when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese watched the fourth and final Test match between India and Australia at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Both leaders also took a round of the massive sports arena on a golf cart before the start of the match.

PM Modi and Albanese handed over Test caps to their respective country's cricket team captains Rohit Sharma and Steve Smith. The round of the playing turf on the golf cart by the two dignitaries was applauded by thousands of spectators who had already taken their seats in the world's largest cricket stadium.

Cricket and diplomacy have often blended seamlessly to give impetus to bilateral relations, be it the 2011 One-Day International (ODI) World Cup semi-final in Mohali that was watched by then prime minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani or India's 2006 tour of Pakistan when after a high-octane match then Pakistan president, the late, Pervez Musharraf told wicketkeeper-batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni not to cut his flowing mane.

Former Indian high commissioner to Pakistan TCA Raghvan feels that cricket can help in facilitating diplomacy as there is so much interest in the sport in India. "Because there is so much interest in cricket in India, it provides a kind of a stage for diplomatic gestures, but it is not a prime-mover in itself," he told PTI.

Though India and Australia have had their brushes with cricket diplomacy, it has been a feature in Indo-Pak ties more often, to thaw the usually frosty relationship between the two neighbours.

The most memorable instance of cricket diplomacy in recent history was the prime ministers of India and Pakistan attending the ODI World Cup semi-final clash between the arch-rivals in Mohali in 2011.

Then Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh took everyone by surprise as he invited Gilani to watch the match after it was confirmed that the two cricket-crazy nations would be locking horns in the semi-final of the sport's showpiece event.

Singh's invite had created a splash and suddenly the focus was on diplomacy more then the high-octane encounter on the cricket field as it had come in the larger context of defusing tensions between the two countries after the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

India went on to win the match and also Singh's gesture was lauded but as is the case with most such gestures in Indo-Pak relations, the bonhomie in ties was short lived.

Cricket has been a part and parcel of India-Pakistan diplomacy and it got a leg-up in 1987 when then Pakistani military dictator Zia-ul-Haq decided to diffuse the prevailing tension in ties by arriving in India to watch a match between the two countries in Jaipur. He had met then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and held talks.

In 2005, days after a cross-LoC bus was inaugurated, then Pakistan president Musharraf visited New Delhi to watch the sixth ODI at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium (now Arun Jaitley Stadium). The visit of course was much more than just about cricket, and diplomacy was again the focus.

Musharraf, a self-confessed cricket aficionado, had again turned to game to signal a message to improve bilateral ties during the 2006 tour of the Indian cricket team, the last time India visited Pakistan for a bilateral series.

During a presentation ceremony after a one-day match in Lahore, Musharraf praised Dhoni's hairstyle.

"May I congratulate Dhoni on being the architect of the victory. May I tell Dhoni, I saw a placard asking you to get a haircut. If you want to take my opinion, you look good in this haircut. Don't get a haircut," he had said in remarks that are now part of cricketing folklore.

Cricket and diplomacy have gone together not just in India-Pakistan ties but in New Delhi's relations with other nations as well. Former president Pratibha Patil hosted her Sri Lankan counterpart Mahinda Rajapaksa to watch the 2011 World Cup final at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai.

In November, 2014, then Australian prime minister Tony Abbott had met Modi at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground with legendary cricketers from both nations adding to the cricketing flavour.

Star Indian cricketers such as Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar and VVS Laxman, as well as Australian legends like Allan Border, Glenn McGrath and Steve Waugh had joined the two prime ministers at the ground.

India-Australia diplomacy got a fresh booster shot of cricket on Thursday when Modi and Albanese watched the match from the President's Box at the world's largest stadium in Ahmedabad.

Modi and Albanese met players from both sides and stood along side them when the national anthems of India and Australia were sung. The two PMs also visited the 'Hall of Fame museum at the Narendra Modi stadium.

Gestures in diplomacy involving cricket are just that -- gestures to bring some warmth to bilateral ties. They may not bring about stark changes but provide the batters a pitch that helps them move towards the target.