What is it about an India-Pakistan match that gets everyone to drop everything else and watch it? Why would you pay a few thousand pounds for a ticket and fly into Ahmedabad from the UK, USA, distant parts of India or any other destination in the world? Why is the clamour for tickets as crazy as it is, with people wanting to see this game and nothing else? Why, despite the fact that neither of these two sides have the best record in ICC events, is this considered the final before the final?
Is it because of all the history we share? It is about wanting to beat Pakistan, and vice versa. Instant stardom beckons when you perform in a match like this, and the feat is then celebrated for months on end.
Sachin Tendulkar’s 98 in Centurion in the 2003 World Cup, for example, is part of cricket lore and forever will be. And when it is the World Cup, the entire dynamic changes. It is a match you just can’t lose. The build-up starts weeks and months in advance, and despite wanting to switch off,,no player is immune to the surround sound.
Someone or the other will remind them that it’s Pakistan after all, and that’s what makes this contest what it is.
Ask Virat Kohli and Babar Azam, and both would tell you it is just another game. Both, we know for certain, aren’t speaking the truth. It is their way to deflect pressure. Not to let the occasion get to them. With 100 percent tickets sold out and a capacity crowd of 100,000-plus expected in the stands, it will be almost like the India-Pakistan of old. The spectacle will get us a step closer to what a World Cup is all about.
Coming to the two teams, there’s little doubt India looks the better side with more experience and depth. In Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Kohli, the Indian top order is perhaps the best in the tournament and against a relatively weaker Pakistan bowling attack, it is expected that the batting will come good. Add in that Shubman Gill “is 99 percent ready”, and Shreyas Iyer too is back among the runs. Pakistan’s spinners haven’t looked the best and India shouldn’t be too worried. We have seen India deliver in the first two games and almost everyone got a good look in.
The batting effort against Afghanistan is sure to help and though they haven’t got time in the middle yet, numbers six and seven, with Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja, have enough fire in them to deliver a powerful finish.
It is the bowling that still looks a little underdone, with Siraj not looking at his best yet and struggling to take wickets. But then we know what he is capable of and what he did in the Asia Cup final not too long ago.
For Pakistan, it’s much the same. Babar, Mohammed Rizwan and Abdullah Shafique, who looked really good against Sri Lanka, make a very good top order but then there is a degree of over-reliance on the captain. The middle order isn’t the best and how they negotiate the middle overs could well decide the match. In bowling, much is expected from the super-talented Shaheen Afridi. While there is no doubt he has the ability, can he handle the pressure of the biggest stage is the question to be asked?
For me, however, it is the occasion. India versus Pakistan after months and years on Indian soil, on a World Cup stage. It will give the tournament the fillip that it needs and, with people back in the stands in the thousands, gives us all a symbol of hope for the sport and the format.
Shoaib Akhtar, who will enjoy the contest from Islamabad, summed it up really well. “Why do you play the game? You play to enjoy,” he said when asked his message for Babar and team. “This is the biggest stage of all and unless you are excited about performing in an India-Pakistan contest, you are missing something. These matches build legacy, something you will always remember and be proud of. So all I will say is go out there and enjoy the occasion for you are that rare few who have a chance to do so.”
If you love cricket, it is compulsory viewing. It is about biting your nails and screaming your lungs out. It is about feeling the pressure when a boundary is struck, or when a wicket falls. It is India-Pakistan, the mother of all cricket contests. And finally, it is happening again. The world isn’t all bad. Just enjoy the rivalry and create memories.