Beyond the boundary

WORM'S EYE VIEW

There have been less than 20 ties in over 2,100 one-day cricket internationals. So, it would have been stretching the boundaries of hope to have expected the Samjhauta Series to end in five ties. Both a beleagured general and a caretaker prime minister (PM) might think that's a pity.

If ties are out, none of the possible results would be viewed with the same satisfaction on both sides of the border. Notwithstanding all the bonhomie in the stands, 5-0 would have exposed the losers to shame and humiliation and the winners would have been seen as insufferable in their condescension.

Four-one would have been a little better "" it would still be a decisive victory. What both governments would have wanted is a 3-2 result with narrow margins in each match. What's more, both governments would have wanted a "live rubber" going into the last game.

This way, we all get peace with honour. One side wins, the other side is left feeling that it came within an ace of victory; nobody visits "Humiliation City". Whatever happens in Lahore today, the general and PM can sit down and talk without having to take note of mutually-hostile populations.

But some people will continue to believe that this result was contrived. One set of conspiracy theorists will blame the bookies, another set will blame the general, the PM and their minions.

Criminal investigations run by querying for motives, means and opportunity "" all three must exist. In this particular case, we don't even know if a crime has been committed but let's admit motive exists. The bookies stand to make more money from betting on a live series. Both governments stand to gain from a 3-2 result. So do the respective cricket adminstrations.

I don't think the means exist for bookies. Due to the special security considerations of this tour, the players are living in 24-hour glasshouses. There is a special anti-corruption squad of the ICC stalking the tour to prevent fixers getting into the act. Team cellphones are monitored continuously.

The means do exist for governments working at the highest levels. But as anyone who has ever had dealing with either Indian or Pakistani officialdom knows, keeping things quiet is not an area of core competence in either country. Too many people would have to be involved to guarantee a quiet, clean "fix".

Does the opportunity exist? Certainly! But it would have to be micro-managed with multiple contingency plans. There were half-a dozen observers on hand as Inzi won four tosses. What if he had lost a couple "" would Ganguly have made the same bat/ bowl decisions? What if Inzi had batted out another over at Karachi, or Balaji made his ground at Pindi? Suppose Irfan had bowled Moin or Razzaq with another perfect inswinging yorker at Peshawar? Writing five scripts in such detail is difficult.

It would also have required sub-rosa drama lessons for both teams at pre-series coaching camps to ensure that the body language was right. Not a problem for the theorists "" Bollywood would willingly have provided the expertise, after all, and the stars were much in evidence at the matches.

In the purely cricketing sense, Inzamam and Tendulkar played incredible, match-winning knocks to nevertheless end on the losing side; Kaif has taken unbelievable catches; the quicks have persistently taken wickets off no-balls; batsmen have played Chinese cuts shaving the stumps.

According to the conspiracy theorists, all this could have been contrived "" a point of view that leads one to believe that most of them have played very little cricket. There are certainly ways to contrive results. But it's difficult to play a Chinese cut at will or to take the catches Kaif has.

What is it with us Orientals that we simply cannot accept the fact that both sides are pretty evenly matched in terms of ability? Neither team has the firepower or consistency to win by more than a 3-2 margin. And, if there is a 105-1 against-the-odds tie today, it would be a just result!