Pak college cricketers find safe haven in India

The recent anti-Pakistan protests in India may have further jeopardised the revival of the much awaited cricketing ties but a bunch of college-going cricketers from Karachi, oblivious of the simmering tensions at the higher level, are having the time of their lives in the “safe haven” of Dehradun.

While Shiv Sena-led protests in Mumbai did not allow the chiefs of Indian and Pakistan cricket boards to meet, the political party has taken on the task of ensuring that no one from across the border, be it cricketer or actor, is allowed in the state. However, the students from Jinnah Degree College can’t complain over their stay in India ever since they arrived in the Doon Valley on October 19. They form one of the eight teams taking part in Red Bull Campus Cricket World Finals.

“It has almost been a week since we came. What do I say, we feel very welcome here. It feels even better and safer than back home. It is just like home. I would say the treatment is even better than home,” Faizan Khan, a List A cricketer who is captaining the team of 11 Karachi-based cricketers, told PTI. Shouldn’t he be worried when there is a risk to the safety of someone like Wasim Akram and Shoaib Akhtar? The famed Pakistani greats will not be commentating in the final game of the India-South Africa ODI series in Mumbai on Sunday.