Boria Majumdar in Dubai
Four hours to go for the India-Pakistan contest, and the tension is palpable. For the first time in history, Indian fans are divided on whether to watch this game or not. Should they boycott or use the sports field to make a point? What’s the best approach? In all this, one thing is certain. The end point for everyone is the same. Each is an Indian and each is hurt. Angry, upset and fed up. And that’s why this disagreement. Each one of us are figuring out our own ways to protest. But each one of us are united in the fact that we are all Indians with nationalism in our hearts.
There are a number of fans from India who I have met in Dubai in the last couple of days. And while they have travelled for the game, I could sense the self-doubt. Each one of us have self-doubt. It is natural. How should we deal with this game? How should we react? Yesterday at the press conference, there were Indian and Pakistani journalists together. And some of them have been close friends of ours in the past. And yet, we did not even speak. The discomfort was palpable. Shahid Hashmi, for example, has done shows for RevSportz a year earlier. And yet we did not even say a word to each other. Each did his work and left.
In my 30 years of covering sport, this is a very different game. That’s where we need to spare a thought for the players. Do they not feel the tension? Is it humanly possible and how will they deal with the pressure and conduct themselves on the pitch? Will it impact their performance and can that have a telling impact on the eventual result?
India, in normal circumstances, go in as overwhelming favourites. They have a gun team and a well-rounded one. And yet, there is apprehension around. The geopolitics has been discussed in the Indian change room and it is impossible to stay aloof. How the players deal with the sentiment and stay emotionless when on the field could well decide the eventual outcome of this match.
Let me end this piece saying come what may we, at RevSportz, will keep backing the team. The decision to play is a government call and the players are doing their job. While they will do all to win, we must keep in mind that the pressure is humungous. So either way it is important to back the team. They are not representatives of the Indian Army, and to think that way will be wrong. They are cricketers and are doing what’s best known to them.
This isn’t an extension of Operation Sindoor. Let them protest their way, for they are no less nationalists than anyone else. And each one of us will also be doing our jobs. In good or bad, the self-belief to do the work with conviction will define us. And that’s what I have asked my colleagues to do. We will back the team come what may. And in doing so, will stay true to our calling.
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