Every time India and Pakistan play cricket, a familiar story unfolds, as if someone has hit the replay button. The same tired hype about the big game and the usual comments about “outside noise” being a distraction.
But noise and hype matter, both are part of the modern game because adrenaline-pumping promotion is par for the course. Cricket is a sport and high risk trading and economics demand that available trading opportunities be maximized, with a result of six. India versus Pakistan is an event that combines sport and entertainment: it’s the ultimate cricket box office, what movie people would describe as a blockbuster release that demands a grand “opening.”
No wonder the broadcaster who (literally) has a skin in the game after paying a fortune to acquire the rights, goes OTT with manufacturing interest. A cricket match is presented as a competition involving countries, to which national pride and izzat are added, and the aim of the match is to seek revenge or inflict yet another defeat on the opponent.
Whether cricket should be tainted in this way is up for debate, but toxic match promotion, which goes beyond the understandable compulsions to promote a commercial property, is disgusting. A match between India and Pakistan, purely from a cricket perspective, is immensely attractive. Fans are loving the showdown between ‘killer’ Rohit Sharma and Shaheen Afridi and the bitter battle between King Kohli and Haris Rauf bowling at 150. When the game is unmissable simply for the exciting cricket battles, why add faltu spice that leaves a bad taste in your mouth?
Sadly, it’s not just the broadcaster and sponsor (both keen to protect their investment) succumbing to the cheap hype for an India-Pak match. Former players, commentators and broadcasters have also contracted the virus and are happily feigning enthusiasm for the match billed as the “mother of all battles”, bigger than the Ashes.
Do players get caught up in this madness and feel extra pressure going into a match between India and Pakistan? Yes, they do, because of the history that goes back 50 years. They realize that it is a special game and they will be remembered, for better or worse, depending on their performance. Success can make you a hero, as happened to Hrishikesh Kanitkar and Joginder Sharma and failure can leave a permanent scar as it did with some others.
When Ashish Nehra Defending 8 in the final of an ODI in Karachi in 2004, resulting in an Indian win, his reaction was one of relief more than anything else. The only thought on his mind in that tense moment was to escape the fate of Chetan Sharma years ago. I remember Sachin saying after his epic strike against Centurion (in the 2003 World Cup, when he knocked down Waqar and Wasim) that he had been thinking about this match for a long time and couldn’t sleep the night before the match. .
Players put up safety nets and defense mechanisms to protect themselves from excessive pressure. No one describes this strategy better than Dravid. When asked about an India-Pak match at a press conference, he downplayed the contest in his typical iron-fisted manner. It’s just another game of cricket, he said, played by eleven players with one bat and one ball. Anything special, the journalist insisted, hoping to extract a juicy quote for his issue. But Dravid, not to be tempted by the doosra, presented a straight bat to defend boldly. No, he answered him. We train and prepare in the same way for all teams. Nothing different.
Which is not entirely true, but players would be happy if the temperature was lowered and the frenzy was controlled. Once, when it was suggested that the two teams shake hands before the game, to remind charged fans to treat the game as a friendly contest, a strong voice rejected the proposal. Why do something special? he asked. Our job is to play and win. We are not the United Nations.
Wasim Akram was on social media the other day, looking forward to another match between India and Pakistan, noting that one team will win and the other will not. His message, essentially: treat sport as sport.
Which is such a nice and noble thought. India-Pakistan will be played on Sunday or anytime, even if it is a relatively weak Pakistan with suspect batting. The thrill of India getting 48 in the last three overs and Kohli taking the greatest shot of all time, in an impossible situation, is unparalleled. Who needs extra motivation to watch?
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