The freakish record we held against Pakistan is gone now and I can’t say it doesn’t hurt. Granted, Pakistan weren’t the strongest team of the 8 that play the Champions Trophy. But there have been other times lately when they weren’t as strong, but we weren’t this disrespectful either.
India went about this pompously. We didn’t respect Pakistan as a worthy opponent on the cricket field. We expected to throw some stuff at them and for them to fall prey to it. They don’t have batting solidity; their bowlers don’t have the experience; Afridi is a freak; Yousuf is selfish; Asif may not play. All this we said; maybe for a second, even if we forgive such arrogance, we cannot pardon the disrespect for the history that has been India-Pakistan cricket. India didn’t see this a match they must win, didn’t see it as stepping stone to the semi final, didn’t even see it as a clash worth its popcorn money. They saw it as just some cricket match. If we lose this, we need to win the other two. That’s all it was.
If India lose to Australia and the West Indies and don’t make it to the semis, I won’t feel as let down as I felt after this loss. India-Pakistan was special, and it doesn’t seem to be anymore. That is a loss that’s hard to explain but will leave most Indian cricket fans with a dull headache that ceases to throb.
World Cup 2011: My India-Pak World Cup Story
March 31, 2011For the story to make sense, I need to rewind to 1999. The wonderful politicos had announced that the match would be screened at the beach on a large screen. I had no plans to watch there. It was 2:30-ish PM. Folks at home settled around the TV. But alas, we lost power within 10 overs, thanks largely to the beach screening. So we had no choice but to listen to radio commentary on a battery powered walkman with speakers. (Yes, in ’99, they were still cool). In what was an unusually long power cut on our area, the power returned only after 10:30 PM.
Interestingly enough, something similar happened yesturday. There was no power cut, but there was a TV issue at home. Got to see parts of India batting. After the 5th wicket fell, the TV issue got very bad and had to switch off.
So yet again, for an Ind-Pak World Cup match, I had nothing but radio commentary; got a chance to refresh some of my “book” Hindi. But thank god for “Akaash Vaani”, I could still follow the game. Also found out that there was a 15-20 second delay between radio commentary and Star Cricket feed, for there was a short delay between my celebrating a Pak wicket and my neighbors loud cheering. So much for that! The annoying little part about the Akaash Vaani commentary was the premature declaration of India’s victory – at the fall of Afridi’s wicket – and interview with Rathnakar Shetty on the successfully “completed” World Cup.
This gave me a chance to appreciate the power of visual information. You see so much visually, and no amount of high pitched, emotionally charged audio can replace one snap shot. A picture is truly worth a thousand words!
After all the firecrackers, it started to settle that after 2003, India have made it to another World Cup final. Heart also went to Afridi and Pakistan’s heart broken fans. But somebody had to lose this. Only wish the match was a closer one!