Sports watching includes many subplots, fanatics, shenanigans, trash talking, spiritwear, colored faces, hairdos, social media banter, singing of national anthem, flags etc. There are histories, there are team rivalries which fans revel in and when all this gets magnified many folds, there is the rivalry of them all – mother of all battles – India vs Pakistan especially in cricket. We had one such game couple of days back and this time it was turn of city of Melbourne to dish out the spectacle. There are countless cities where these two rivals have produced epic battles and that list is for another day. Needs a book not a blog.
What makes India and Pakistan rivalry bigger than the biggest? Closer look at the 75-year-old history of these two nations and one might be able to visualize and even empathize the spilling of blood on both sides. Think about which countries have a history like these two and that translates into a “war” in jerseys? Spain and Portugal have had rivalries and dates back to the years of colonizing/ocean piracies but again, they had their cultural differences and languages and those were not that deep rooted. Likewise for England and France and for the better part of this century, they have been allies instead of foes. Even soccer clubs, NFL teams, NBA teams all have had their days of glories and tales that befit a rivalry but everything pales in comparison when India and Pakistan enter the ring or arena.
Firstly, battle between India and Pakistan is followed by about a quarter of the world populace. Bring me a similar scale if you want to compare. There are sports rivalries, there are club rivalries, country rivalries but none can match the scale of an India versus Pakistan encounter. Countries or clubs or teams that contend against each other haven’t been through the largest and the bloodiest exodus of men, women and children and cattle on both sides of the border when the countries gained independence and the lines were drawn across the countries. No other rivals have been subject to the abject scars that the objects involved have had to deal with. No two sports rivals have fought 3 full wars and countless skirmishes. Did I say no two rivals have been nuclear potent? Army men have laid their lives down and despite the similarities between the people of the two countries, it is like warring cousins.
India started playing cricket in 1932 and then there was no existence of Pakistan. 1947 born neighbor only debuted twenty years later against their archrivals in 1952. Cricket and Hockey were their two rivalries and over the years, better paying sport dwarfed the other one. Everyone knows which is which. 1983 arrived and made Indians fall in love with the game which they had conquered and thus changed the coffers of the sport. The world’s largest middle class pumped in so much money in the sport that one could only watch the joyride. Pakistan followed suit winning the world cup in 1992 and brought the hardware home. This has transformed the exponential growth of the game in last three decades especially in the subcontinent. Add to that Bangladesh and Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, you have decent fraction of the global force following the Gentlemen’s game.
India and Pakistan have too much history and other countries and cities have truly benefited from their decisions (especially BCCI’s) to not allow Indian team to set soil in the neighboring country. They have been more than forthcoming to host this spectacle. Common people from both countries and even players when they traveled across the border have only raved about the hospitality from the “enemy” nation. If you follow global tales and forged friendships amongst the countrymen, you would wonder is there truly a rivalry or is it the result of the game the British played before granting Independence. The two countries are closer in demographics than what it meets the eye. Kashmir and Cricket have been the two biggest bones of contention between the sides, cricket where battle has been more balanced.
Back to cricket, there have been countless encounters between these two countries – this year 2022 has been a bonanza for the starved eyes as they have already played 4 times with 2-2 as score line. History, current form of the players, techniques, team strength everything goes for the toss. One might wonder in this day and age when most of the pre-game analysis has been deployed to find chinks in opponent’s armors, the identified weak links are moot as this is a game of courage, valor and nerves. This battle royale is never for the faint hearted and never short on the drama and multitude of sub-plots which take their own form and shape and have a life of their own. Everyone turns an expert and chimes in with their advice to the eleven men on either side and no dearth of gamesmanship and trash talking, at times creative, number of times crass. But then again, India-Pakistan rivalry is not an ordinary event.
Interestingly, cricket connoisseurs will tell you it has always been India’s willow (batting) against Pakistan’s cherry (bowling) and close look at the analysis confirms and vindicates the hypothesis. India has always been home to some of the best batsmen and Pakistan has doled out some of the most marvelous bowlers to ply their trade ever. This makes the contest even more compelling. Indian bowling and Pakistani batting which may be their weaker suites have not been exactly weak especially when this battle unfolds. Both India and Pakistan players once they are pitted against each other have to step up and probably put their best as if they mess up and if that costs their country the game, this is treated as a cardinal sin in the eyes of common people. With the dwindling number of games between the two countries, those ego boosting credentials for the latest winner stay longer. One mess up and your family is in peril by those fanatic fans who maybe able to forgive a murder but not the loss to the archrival.
Number of legends on both sides of the border over the years have always downplayed the intensity by mentioning it as just another game (yeah right) and it is business as usual. But tell me how many business-as-usual days get the highest number of televisions smashed, more firecrackers busted on any day not named Diwali, more sweets distributed and consumed again on the side of the border that prevails. No, it is not business as usual and that is what makes this game special. Maybe if the data analysts can probably collect some KPIs, on number of prayers said, number of blood pressures shot up, number of heart aches and cardiologist visits and link to this game, one may get the enormity of this game. All this is surprising especially when the players themselves have the best relationship with each other in most cases, once the action is switched off. Spectators on both sides may indulge in lot of banter and even mudslinging, will dance to the same tunes and eat the same food at times even together. We all have numerous friends on the other side of the border and especially for people like us, it is the “brownness” that unites us, even we both are called Desis.
What played out in Melbourne on Oct. 23rd 2022 was another classic, another humdinger, another potboiler, another cracker of a game. Game did go down to the wire and rightly so, the fate was to decide who the winner was and came down to the ultimate ball. Pakistan was unfortunately outdone by the wily genius of one of the greatest ever with the willow Virat Kohli to show the world who is the boss. King Kohli stayed cool and composed to take India home and that too on the Diwali weekend. This is a game which brings down the businesses and severely affects productivity of companies – maybe that explains why most of the times these games are on Sundays which are universal holidays. Emotions run very high as if it is severely overflowing dam and if you follow the meme game on social media, pleasantries exchanged aren’t always pleasant. Magnitude of this game is evident from the fact that usually reserved yet extremely respected Sundar Pichai of Google even decided to indulge in setting a troll straight on social media. Countless other CEOs of large tech and non tech companies have indulged in some smacking on various social platforms.
Pretty unique case study for the people who do not understand the dynamics of the two countries and do not understand the game. They seem more confused without realizing that these countries were one 75 years back and relationships and culture and food and hospitality and everything has been similar and this is what has been intertwined into an entangled ball which cannot be untangled. This is the destiny, and it is like running the relay race, generation after generation would wait for this game and keep adding to the folklore. If you have been to an India-Pakistan game ever, one of the major items on your bucket list has been achieved.
There have been plethora of India-Pakistan collaborations (wouldn’t call them battles) and they also have achieved unfathomable popularity, be it the real life dalliance of Sania Mirza and Shoaib Malik or India-Pakistan doubles tennis team of Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi dubber Indo-Pak express, Blind cricket teams playing against each other, games between India women and Pakistani women, kabaddi, field hockey and the list can be big but nothing compares to the popularity of when men in blue and men in green slug it out.
Just to keep the Indian in me active, I will end saying, till eternity, Blue is always going to be a parent of Green (and no we are not identifying yellow yet). As Virender Sehwag told Shoaib Akhtar “Baap baap hota hai and beta beta”.
