Who is going to win the ongoing historic series between Pakistan and India? The question arose the day when Pakistan were given green signal for India tour. But the fact is that the importance of the series is beyond victory and defeat. The actual result of the series will emerge when the tour ends, no matter who the winners are.
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It’s high time cricket boards of both countries continued to cooperate with each other (Photo: AFP)[/caption]The series, which includes only two Twenty20 and three One-day International matches, is also being criticised on a few forums. That Indian officials are weary of Pakistani cricket is another thing, some ‘honourable’ people are opposing the tour as India did not allot a separate schedule for it. Instead, they made use of the ‘spare days’ in the England tour.
Though the reservations are justified, the credit must go to Pakistan for agreeing to the series wholeheartedly. Otherwise, the attack on Sri Lankan team in Pakistan and 2008 Mumbai attacks were proved as the last nail in the coffin of Pakistani cricket. Where, on the one hand, all the cricketing nations almost boycotted Pakistan, on the other, Indian politicians kept on repeating the mantra that Pakistan and India should not play cricket unless political relations between the two countries were resolved. As a result, the neighbouring countries were not only barred from playing the game in each other’s countries, but also on a neutral venue.
Given the deteriorating situation, Pakistan Cricket Board’s chairman Zaka Ashraf must be lauded for his role in brokering the series that is first in five years.
Pakistan last toured India in 2007 and since then the fans on both sides of the border had been waiting to see the two countries playing against each other, except for the happenstances when both teams came face-to-face ‘luckily’ in an international tournament. Cricket lovers did see the arch-rivals against each other in the semi-final of World Cup 2011 and World T20 2012, but that only whetted their appetite and the fans kept on burning with a desire of watching more Pakistan-India matches.
The M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore filled to capacity in the first T20 on December 25 was a clear signal to show the intensity of the desire. Fans thronged the stadium despite the fact that they had been watching international cricket on Indian soil for quite a while and that their team’s performance had been below par. Yet they sound very enthusiastic about the current series and the zeal doesn’t seem to lessen before the series ends.
For peoples of both nations, Pak-India series is not just a matter of win or loss, but actually they see the tour as a major breakthrough in the renewal of cricket between the two countries.
The fact that who will win the series is of secondary importance, it’s high time cricket boards of both countries continue to cooperate with each other. Moreover, if, on the one hand, certain Indian politicians stop meddling in cricket affairs and, on the other, Pakistani government succeeds in maintaining law-and-order situation on its soil, then chances are high that both countries may visit each other at least once every two years. If this tour succeeds in producing the desired outcomes, only then it will be considered successful, and it will be a mutual win for both Pakistan and India.
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