Yechury & Pawar plan a Lagaan-like match

NEW DELHI: A real-life Lagaan is in the offing. If everything goes by the script, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh will take on England on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the 1857 revolt.

Taking a cue from the film starring Aamir Khan, CPI(M) politburo and Rajya Sabha member Sitaram Yechury spoke to BCCI president Sharad Pawar on Wednesday suggesting that a cricket tournament be organised in 2007 in the subcontinent and England be invited to play against a team comprising Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis.

Pawar is said to have welcomed the idea, prompting Yechury to send a formal note suggesting the idea on Thursday.

Yechury said the match would help break down barriers among the three neighbours and boost the peace process with Pakistan.

Five matches could be staged —perhaps three in India and one each in Pakistan and Bangladesh, he said.

But Salim Altaf, director (cricket operations) of the Pakistan Cricket Board, told DNA that he had not heard of any such proposal.

The Centre and various other organisations are planning diverse initiatives to commemorate the historic events of 1857. Finance Minister P Chidambaram had told Parliament in February about the formation of a committee to fine-tune the celebrations. The committee is chaired by the Prime Minister.