India vs Pakan What PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee told Team India before 2004 Pakan tour

India vs Pakan: Pakan are the hosts of the ongoing Champions Trophy tournament in what is the country’s first major ICC event since 1996, when it co-hosted the Cricket World Cup with India and Sri Lanka. While seven of the eight teams will play their games in Pakan, India will play all their games in Dubai after refusing to travel to Pakan for security and political reasons.
The two teams have ceased bilateral cricket ties since the Mumbai terror attacks. The Indian team has not visited Pakan since 2008, when the Asia Cup was held there. Pakan last hosted the Indian cricket team for a bilateral series in 2006.
India’s refusal to visit Pakan brings back memories of the rare visits that the Indian team made to Pakan, especially the tour of 2004. The tour of 2004 was a unique one, because India had not visited the neighbouring country for over a decade. There was also tension between the two nations over the Kargil War of 1999. The Indian team that went to Pakan for the 2004 tour had legends like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble. Pakan had stalwarts like Inzamam ul Haq, Mohammad Yousuf, Shoaib Akhtar and Saqlain Mushtaq.
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But what stood out in that tour of 2004 was the Indian prime miner Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s keenness that the team “win hearts” in Pakan.
“Before we left for Pakan, we met Prime Miner Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He told us, this is a ‘friendship tour’. Aap jeeto ya haaro khel main mujhe nahi maalom. Wahaan jao, toh dil zaroor jeetke aana Pakani aavam ki (You win or lose in cricket, it doesn’t matter to me. But when you go there to Pakan, win the hearts of Pakani people),” Sehwag said in a recent Netflix documentary called ‘The Greatest Rivalry: India vs Pakan’.
Virender Sehwag in a still from The Greatest Rivalry: India vs Pakan.
India vs Pakan 2004 tour amid heavy security
The Indian team landed in Pakan under heavy security.
“It was a very bold move on the part of Atal Bihari Vajpayee to go ahead with the tour because of the threats we could face over there,” recounts Yashovardhan Azad, who was the head of security delegation. Story continues below this ad
Sourav Ganguly, who was the captain of the team, revealed the uncertainty in the team about travelling to Pakan.
“Some players were in two minds about visiting there. Wahaan pe kya hoga? (What will happen there?) But we were playing such good cricket at the time, the youngsters said, ‘Chalo yaar, hum itni acchi team hain, hum unko haraa denge. Pehli baar harayenge, Pakan ko Pakan main. (We’re in such good form, we’ll beat them. For the first team, we’ll defeat Pakan in Pakan). So that was the push for us to go there,” Ganguly said on the documentary.
What unfolded was an unforgettable experience for both teams and the fans.
India did win hearts, as instructed PM Vajpayee. But they also won both the ODI and the Test series. India won the 5-match ODI series 3-2 and the 3-match Test series 2-1.