Cricket World Cup: What the first match means to Pakistan
It definitely merits a unique world record of sorts. But even conservative estimates predict that tens of millions are geared up to cut short, or alter, or just simply abandon their precious sleep hours this Saturday night, just to witness the early Sunday live broadcast of the Indo-Pak Cricket clash - and that too as opener for the World Cup 2015. Festivity and fervor are at its best on this memorable holiday, in pleasant weather. The situation stands true for grown ups and elderly alike as youth have already devised the craziest of plans for themselves. Many of them may not sleep at all as elders would naturally prefer an "early to bed, early to rise" mode. Friends and families are planning to hold early breakfasts, brunch or lunch as the day progresses, on Sunday. Nevertheless, the traditional Pakistani and south Asian food items will be in great demand, as usual.
Such is the nature of this cricketing euuphoria that traders, companies and even multinationals are not lagging behind. Marketing and hospitality skills are at their best to offer unique opporunities to their employees and customers to be part of the festivity. Big screens are being erected in market places, parking lots and even old neighbourhoods, screening live cricket matches, which is now a must part of the Pakistani urban scene. Rest of the households will simply be glued to their television screens at home, with families and friends.
Welcome to the cricket crazy neighbouhoods, streets, towns and cities of Pakistan. Cricket, as a saying goes, is more than a sport in this part of the world. It's a way of life that has all the shades of life. Victory is sought fervelously, defeat is resented furiously. Every stroke from the bat and resultant boundry brings joys and laughters to tens of millions. And every fall of wicket plays havoc with the sentiment of millions, and vice versa.
The all time India-Pakistan one day match record may be soothing for Pakistanis, but the fact that we are yet to defeat India in a world cup match, is an unsettling reality. We are facing heavy odds against India, 5-0 in the World Cup encounters so far. But then 3-2 Pakistan victory in the last 5 encounters is another consolation.
The present Indian team enjoys more exprienced and reliable batting line up compared to Pakistan. Consistency lacks in Pakistani batting, till date. And this is a harsh fact that sentimental fans, and even experts, tend to shy away from. Still, the Pakistani batsmen need to offer their natural game, and that too in such a high profile and tense game. A tough ask, indeed. Skipper Misbahul Haq, Shahid Afridi, Younas Khan and Umar Akmal are the big names every one is relying on.
The Pak-India balling however seems evenly poised, except Pakistani pacer Irfan's capability to come up with some surprises. The Pakistani bowling squad misses star Saeed Ajmal and Junaid Khan as well. A win could change all that, and suddenly. Sunday's contest, a win against India in a one day World Cup match could be nothing short of a bounty for Pakistanis. Less than this, being an underdog is a blessing in disguise as less public expectation and wrath comes your way when you are not a favourite in the competition.
Cricket diplomacy and south Asian regional diplomacy, for good or bad, is now part and parcel of this most popular sport of the Indian sub-continent. As cricket is termed "by chance" but it stands more true for Pak-India relations. Though, we have started enjoying the game itself, but the decades-old Pak-India tiff reflects in our behaviour, moods and approach.
Remember the mid-80s cricket diplomacy employed by the then Pakistani President General Ziaul Haq as he came to India to witness an India-Pakistan cricket match, as armies of both the countries were eye ball to eye ball, pitched against each other? Almost three decades on, festivities and fervor surrounding he same sport, contributes a great deal to cool down a complex and unpredictable Indo-Pak tangle. This time around too, Indian and Pakistani premiers had their share of publicity as the big game approached.
Mr Modi choose the occasion to have himself counted in the historical love-hate pattern of Indo-Pak ties, gone worse during the last four to five months of his premiership. The calculated risk Mr Modi took to heat up the eastern border with Pakistan just when Sharif was badly pinned down and fighting for his political survival turned out to be a zero sum game for both sides, after waste of yet another few months. Still, one step forward and two steps backward remains hallmark of Pak-India tipsy turvy relations.
What did the new BJP regime get out of the geo-strategic drama built around tension on the international border, Pakistanis ask? The Indian side may come up with many valid arguments of their own. In reality, the whole scenario had compelled the Pakistani premier to a harder line in pursuing relations with India, and to re-align himself with hawks of the Pakistani polity. Many in Pakistan also tend to think that this latest cricket diplomacy move by Mr Modi was in fact a carefully crafted reality check after US President Obama's high profile trade centric visit to India. And even if American trade and geo-strategic policy is tilted in favour of India, they dearly urge Pak-India peace in this part of the world. And India-Pakistan strategists know this fully well. For sure, Mr Sharif will be a happy man in case Pak-India dialogue resumes full throttle.
No one could have thought that last June, the Pakistani premier's political gamble of sorts, when he flew to New Delhi to attend the inaugural of Mr Modi, would prove an exercise in vain soon. Sharif felt hurt as Mr Modi showed brinkmanship by cancelling scheduled foreign secretary level talks between the two countries on the pretext that the Pakistan's top diplomat in Delhi had met Kashmiri leaders in Delhi. As a result, Sharif's diplomatic overtures towards India, already silently resented by Pakistani military establishment, hit a major snag - nothing less.
Ever since, there were no second thoughts from the Pakistani premier as a domestic political storm pushed him towards an almost premature political elimination at the hands of political entities said to be aligned on the right side of powerful military establishments of the country. Now that he managed to survive, he might be eyeing bold initiatives from Mr Modi, just like the good old days of BJP government when the then premier Atal Bihari Vajpayee came to Pakistan to sign the historical Lahore declaration after both countries had become declared nuclear states.
For now, Mr Modi called to clear some air. Premier Sharif reciprocated well. An ardent fan and player of cricket himself, Sharif knows a good pitch and healthy approach can put Pak-India relations on the right track. He himself plans to watch the game with friends and family in his home town, Lahore. And has already declared it a power-outage-free Sunday.
For now, the best thing going to happen this Sunday is the fervor and enthusiasm attached to the Indo-Pak Cricket match. Let's admit it for a fact that cricket is more than a sport in this part of the world. Thats why no one wants to lose even a single match when it comes to a competition between the south Asian neighbours. Can we conduct ourselves in all other spheres of life, just as we do in cricket. Anybody's guess!!!