- November 28, 2024
‘Open-chested Position’: Jaishankar Uses Cricket Analogy To Define India’s Pakistan Policy – News18
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Jaishankar made his remarks at the book launch of cricketing legend Mohinder Amarnath’s memoir ‘Fearless’ in New Delhi.
EAM Jaishankar with cricketing legends Kapil Dev and Mohinder Amarnath in Delhi. (S Jaishankar/X)
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar attended a book launch event for former Indian cricketer Mohinder Amarnath’s memoir ‘Fearless‘ in Delhi, where he used cricket analogy to define India’s foreign policy towards Pakistan.
Speaking at the event, Jaishankar responded to a question on the India-Pakistan cricket tour in 1982-83. India and Pakistan played six Test matches during the tour, with India losing the series 3-0 to their arch-rivals. The Indian side featured cricketing legends like Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar and Javed Miandad.
“You said you played them better because, from the traditional side of the position, you now move to an open-chested position. I couldn’t have found a better description of our Pakistan policy than that,” Jaishankar said at the book launch event in Delhi.
#WATCH | “…To me, the entire world is a bunch of fast bowlers coming at me. This is the advice I would also give to my colleagues – move early, play late, prepare well, anticipate, read them and then play. The other is what you said about Pakistan and the 1982-83 tour. You said… pic.twitter.com/C0aOUfBRIW— ANI (@ANI) November 28, 2024
Jaishankar Goes Philosophical, Highlights India’s Rise In Cricket
Jaishankar also compared the evolution of cricket in India with the evolution of Indian policy and India itself in recent decades. He also described India’s first Cricket World Cup victory in 1983 as an “inflexion point”.
“Countries have won the World Cup, not just us. Pakistan won it at one point and Sri Lanka won it at one point. But nowhere else was it as big an inflexion point as it was in the history of cricket. Because, if you look at India’s role in world cricket after 1983, it fundamentally changed,” he said.
He also used cricket analogy to give advice to his colleagues. “To me, the entire world is a bunch of fast bowlers coming at me. This is the advice I would also give to my colleagues – move early, play late, prepare well, anticipate, read them and then play,” he said at the event.
‘Fearless’ depicts the journey of one of India’s most celebrated cricketing legends Mohinder Amarnath, who began his career as a batsman in the 1970s. The son of legendary cricketer Lala Amarnath, Mohinder scored over 4,000 runs in his 20-year-old career. He was awarded the Man of the Match award in the final where Indian won the world cup in 1983.
