After many rounds of high-level bilateral discussions, India and Pakistan have finally given up on the highly popular and immensely profitable idea of ‘home’ and ‘away’ cricket. Starting with the ICC Champions Trophy early next year, till 2028 at least, the mother of all sporting rivalries will now be played out at neutral venues.
At least for now, the door has been shut for good. The two bickering neighbours wouldn’t invite each other to their homes but in a mutual decision, that gives a strong whiff of hypocrisy, would readily play ball on foreign soil.
So the expats can watch this storied rivalry unfold from the stands, the well-heeled fans from the two nations can take flights to these foreign destinations but the masses, the most interested stakeholders, can say goodbye to their dream of watching India-Pakistan live.
With UAE expected to be the destination for future India-Pakistan games, cricket in the region has rewinded to the 1980s and the Sharjah days. It is back to the days of migrant workers in the stands, Bollywood in boxes and, maybe, desert storms on the field. Mouth-watering yes, but a sumptuous meal minus the salt.
India vs Pakistan ICC events will be held in neutral venues until 2028. (PTI)
Though this is an ICC decision, it has been dictated by the stand taken by the top political offices in India and Pakistan. Cricket officials have repeatedly insisted that they are merely following instructions of their governments.
For years now, the travel plans of Indian and Pakistani cricketers have depended on the geopolitics of the region and governments of the day. These decisions were being taken on a tournament-by-tournament basis. So last year, India refused to cross the border for the Asia Cup though Pakistan did for the subsequent World Cup.
The ICC, kicking the can down the road for years, has finally taken a long-term stand. This is the end of ambiguity, speculation and a lot more.
This also means that for the next few years, cricket’s status as a diplomatic tool has been taken away. The game would no longer be the thermometer to check the thaw between the two nations with a history of wars and violent attacks. Unlike in 2004, when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister, cricket teams wouldn’t have to play the role of the messengers of peace who had to win games as well as hearts.
India’s Jasprit Bumrah celebrates the dismissal of Pakistan’s captain Babar Azam during the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup cricket match between India and Pakistan at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in Westbury, New York, Sunday, June 9, 2024. (AP/PTI)
Once that tour party of 2004, led by Sourav Ganguly, would cross the border, there would be reciprocity. Even Pervez Musharraf was cracking jokes.
BCCI old hand Ratnakar Shetty, the manager on that historic tour, gives great details of evenings in Pakistan when Musharraf hosted the teams for tea. “He was in a jovial mood as he interacted with the players of both sides and cracked jokes, some at the expense of the Pakistani team. He described the lavish spread of food, which was rich in ghee, as ‘weapons of mass destruction’,” wrote Shetty.
Times change
Now cricket has been liberated, India and Pakistan wouldn’t be using it as a political ice-breaker.
That comes with collateral damage too. By doing away with ‘home and away’, India and Pakistan are diluting their cricket. The 2022 T20 World Cup’s India-Pakistan game at the MCG, the world’s biggest cricket stadium then, was a sea of blue. The atmosphere was riveting but it still can’t match the intensity of the game between the two countries at the Narendra Modi stadium, the new biggest stadium. Had India allowed Pakistan fans to travel, like Pakistan did for Indians on the 2004 tour, it could well have set a record for the most electric cricket game ever.
Games at neutral grounds don’t have the feel of a derby. Manchester United and Manchester City set pulses racing if they play at Old Trafford or Etihad, not in China or Hong Kong. India vs Pakistan in Dubai is as unimpressive as El Clasico played in the US.
Ahmedabad: India’s Kuldeep Yadav with teammates celebrates the wicket after a successful review for an LBW of Pakistan’s Saud Shakeel during the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 match between India and Pakistan, at Narendra Modi Stadium, in Ahmedabad, Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023. (PTI Photo)
The decision also puts an asterix on the careers of every present-day India cricketer. Virat Kohli hasn’t played a Test against Pakistan and has never travelled there as a senior cricketer. If there’s any country in the world that gives Kohli the same love as India, it is Pakistan.
Before the ICC decision on the Champions Trophy was made public, former Pakistan captain Azhar Ali had imagined the scene at a stadium in his country for an India-Pakistan game.
“The stands would be green but there would be enough support for Kohli as it would be for Pakistan players,” he told this paper.
Another past player Rashid Latif compares Kohli to Dilip Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan, superstars popular on both sides of the border.
India not going to Pakistan also would give Indian cricket fans of a certain vintage a sense of despondence. Those who were stunned into silence in the stands when Shoaib Akhtar bowled Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar off successive deliveries at Kolkata in 1999 would have wanted to watch Jasprit Bumrah running in at Lahore in the Champions Trophy match against Pakistan.
Oh, they would have given anything to see Bumrah send Babar Azam’s stumps flying at the Gaddafi Stadium. That would be a story, that would have set things up for several sequels, that would be proper revenge for Eden Gardens, 25 years later.
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I’m Manas Ranjan Sahoo: Founder of “Webtirety Software”. I’m a Full-time Software Professional and an aspiring entrepreneur, dedicated to growing this platform as large as possible. I love to Write Blogs on Software, Mobile applications, Web Technology, eCommerce, SEO, and about My experience with Life.
