With the never-ending political upheavals taking a front
seat in the Indo-Pak relations, the joy of India Pakistan matches have been
restricted to your birthday falling in a leap year. It’s simply quite amazing
to see that same level of bustling energy and enthusiasm over generations being
maintained and going strong. If anything, the negativity and acrimony amongst
fans on both sides have given way to excitement and respect for each other. Every
difference- gender, age, economic- present in the Indian society is asked to
take a backstage, with cricket taking the centre stage. To see that bubbling
enthusiasm at home and observing the actions being matched step-by-step by our
brothers closer home in the neighboring land of Pakistan proves the magnanimity
of the event involved. Add to it the flavor of World Cup and we have got an
exciting talent given the grandest stage to perform and show the world their
mettle.
Characters have evolved from such high-pressure encounters.
The sight of Miandad frog-jumping in front of Kiran More in that 92 World Cup
lit up the otherwise unexpected dim atmosphere. Venkatesh prasad’s famous
send-off to Aamir Sohail in that 96 World cup is a sight to behold. Tendulkar
tearing apart the trio of Akram, Akhtar and Waqar in Centurion have mesmerized many.
The sight of a despondent Misbah after getting caught trying to scoop in that
T20 World cup final is etched in the memory of everybody’s mind.
The game has become richer for spectators by being given the
opportunity to witness players involved in such grueling intensity and
high-pressure situations talk it out many years down the line in the commentary
box. The game reaches to a very
different level when we have Ganguly and Akram talking about 2003 or Ravi Shastri
and Rameez Raza talking about their times. Getting to know some wonderful
insights about why Shoaib’s pace used to drop slightly with Dravid at the
crease makes you go back down the memory lanes and relive those moments of joy.
Few years down the line, it will be fascinating to see Dhoni have a chat with
Misbah on air about the strategy behind giving Joginder Sharma that last over
in that famous Indian Win in 2007. Moving forward a decade, if things go well,
we might be able to see Kohli and Akmal making their feelings known on air in
an Indo-Pak match in Australia with Johnson being the mediator in the
Commentary Box. Everybody loves a romantic story and Indo-Pak matches give us a
glimpse of that every time these two nations play. These are some of the
reasons that have kept the passion and excitement going.
With political tensions not ceasing anytime soon, the
opportunities to live these moments have reduced. But whenever presented, everybody
has grabbed the associated joys with both hands. It’s in human nature to
present them every single opportunity to please themselves and I might be
correct when I say that many an Indo-Pak moments will be part of that.
However, to look at the silver lining, with matches being
conducted not so regularly, it might have given the perfect break to make this
contest alive every single time it is staged. No matter which team wins, the
game of Cricket will always be a winner and the sheer joy associated with the
event will give our lives moments to cherish.
The game has given immense opportunities to bring together the two Asian countries to help them realize their full potential, not restricted to the game of Cricket alone. The project that was started to bring peace by using Cricket as the tool can go a long way in improving the relationships. Let's hope that someday we are mature enough to understand that
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