A Tryst with cricket

Despite the general sense of divide and animosity shared by India and Pakistan, of mutual concerns, over the past several many decades over wars, alleged penetration of border and LOC, territorial dispute and ideological differences, etc., the two nations share a rich cultural history spanning centuries predating to the 1947 Independence. While this culture is steeped deeply in music, language, history, art and science, one aspect shines more obvious than the others, and that is sports, through cricket.

Cricket is not all fun and games for the two subcontinent nations, but a matter of pride and respect, one that is felt equally amongst the masses across the borders. Every India-Pakistan match seems to imbibe a feeling of a ‘world cup final’ involving the two greatest rivals of each other. A lot has been lost and won, but cricket has remained a constructive force in the social and political sphere (through cricket diplomacy), especially in times when dialogues halt to a standstill.

It must be said that while the general feeling of distrust has spread to the political factions at times, the relationship that cricket has built, is that of respect, friendship and cooperation which has been experienced and seen through mutual respect for players, teams, fans and the willingness to share the bond of the game.

It is often joked that, India’s Batsmen and Pakistan’s bowlers would make the greatest, most lethal cricket team in the world if played as one country. Owing it to the strong skillset and techniques of Indians when it comes to batting, and Pakistanis mastering the art of maneuvering the leather ball in any which way desired. Very few teams boast of such balanced expertise, but India and Pakistan would have been an exception.

While there is a growing sense of doubt and distrust across the borders, it is important to clarify the understanding. I believe it should be noted that while this sense of suspicion lies, this suspicion is primarily between the political factions of the two nations, and not amongst the general masses. In that view the general masses that are often innocent of most of the proceedings as bystanders to their objectives, and are often dragged in to political debates leading to struggles at the border. People of the two nations are very similar in thought and belief and must in fact be wise to understand this difference.

Cricket has and will always pave a path forward not only towards a sense of contentment and friendship between the masses, but also allowing healing at the top governmental, leadership levels by allowing discourse and a sense of trust in each other. The reason for this is, India and Pakistan share a great passion for this game, and it is only obvious that this passion can be used to benefit relations towards positive objectives, rather than just using this passion as a source of hate and anger to spew when either nations loses against the other. If pride is at stake, it is obvious that it could well lead to great potential is meeting the differences between the two nations. It is important to maintain and continue long standing cricket tours, and cups, thereby fuelling a source of positivity for important matters such as bilateral talks, bilateral trade, treaties, territorial dispute talks, and visas for people to travel to and fro untroubled.

Disturbances in the past relations of India and Pakistan cannot be easy forgotten or solved directly through cricket, because the differences steep greatly to very basic matters predating to many decades. These are issues that people hold very dear and true to their hearts because of the unforgiving past, but certainly the future cannot be left to live this way. Cricket has allowed a starting point and an opportunity for mending of bonds, and certainly this can lead to mending of the leaderships towards constructive mutual growth of both the nations. It certainly does not make sense to harbor the past, only to guarantee the same pain in the future for future generations, but instead a proposition of hope and healing is a promising and a resurgent one that enables a great partnership.