After several rounds of high-level bilateral discussions, India and Pakistan have finally abandoned the highly popular and highly profitable idea of ’home’ and ‘away’ cricket. Starting with the ICC Champions Trophy early next year, until at least 2028, the mother of all rivalries will now be played at neutral venues.
At least for now, the door has been closed for good. Two quarreling neighbors do not call each other home but in a mutual decision, which gives a strong tinge of hypocrisy, will easily play ball in a foreign land.
So expatriates can witness this storied rivalry from the stands, well-heeled fans of the two nations can take flights to these foreign destinations but the public, the most concerned stakeholders, can say goodbye to their dream of watching India-Pakistan live. .
The UAE is expected to be the destination for India-Pakistan matches in the future, with cricket in the region going back to the 1980s and Sharjah days. It’s back to the days of migrant workers in the stands, Bollywood in the boxes and, perhaps, desert storms on the field. Mouth-watering, but minus the salt a fantastic meal.
India vs Pakistan ICC tournament to be held at neutral venues till 2028. (PTI)
Although this is an ICC decision, it is guided by the stance taken by the top political offices of India and Pakistan. Cricket officials have repeatedly insisted that they are only following the government’s instructions.
Over the years, the travel plans of Indian and Pakistani cricketers have depended on the geopolitics of the region and the governments of the day. These decisions were made on a tournament-by-tournament basis. So last year India refused to cross the border for the Asia Cup but Pakistan did for the subsequent World Cup.
After kicking the streets for years, the ICC has finally taken a long-term stance. This is the end of ambiguity, guesswork and more.
This also means that the status of cricket as a diplomatic tool has been taken away for the next few years. The game will no longer be a thermometer to check fault between two nations with a history of war and violent aggression. Unlike in 2004, when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister, cricket teams do not have to play the role of messengers of peace who must win games and hearts.
India’s Jasprit Bumrah celebrates his dismissal of Pakistan captain Babar Azam during the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup cricket match between India and Pakistan at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in Westbury, New York, Sunday, June 9, 2024. (AP/PTI)
Once that 2004 tour party, led by Sourav Ganguly, crosses the border, there will be reciprocity. Pervez Musharraf also joked.
BCCI old hand Ratnakar Shetty, the manager of that historic tour, gives a grand account of the evening in Pakistan when Musharraf hosted the teams for tea. “He was in jovial mood as he chatted with players from both sides and cracked jokes, some at the expense of the Pakistan team. He described the lavish spread of ghee-rich food as a ‘weapon of mass destruction’,” Shetty wrote.
Times change
Now that cricket has become independent, India and Pakistan no longer use it as a political ice breaker.
That also comes with collateral damage. By ‘home and away’, India and Pakistan have weakened their cricket. The India-Pakistan match of the 2022 T20 World Cup at the MCG, the world’s largest cricket stadium, was a sea of blue. The atmosphere was pleasant but it still could not match the intensity of the match between the two countries at the new biggest stadium Narendra Modi Stadium. If India had allowed Pakistani fans to travel, like Pakistan did to the Indians on the 2004 tour, it could have set the record for the most electric cricket match ever.
Matches on neutral grounds don’t have a derby feel. Manchester United and Manchester City set pulses racing if they play at Old Trafford or the Etihad, not in China or Hong Kong. India vs Pakistan in Dubai is as ineffective as El Clasico in America.
AHMEDABAD: India’s Kuldeep Yadav after a successful review of Pakistan’s Saud Shakeel’s lbw during the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 match between India and Pakistan at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Saturday, October 14, 2023. Celebrating the wicket with teammates. (PTI photo)
This decision also puts an asterix on the career of every cricketer in India today. Virat Kohli has not played a Test against Pakistan and has never traveled there as a senior cricketer. If there is any country in the world that loves Kohli as much as India, it is Pakistan.
Before the ICC’s decision on the Champions Trophy was made public, former Pakistan captain Azhar Ali envisioned the scene at his country’s stadium for the India-Pakistan match.
“The stands will be green but there will be enough support for Kohli as it will be for Pakistani players,” he told this paper.
Rashid Latif, another former player, compares Kohli to superstars Dilip Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan from both sides of the border.
India will also give Indian cricket fans who don’t visit Pakistan a sense of disappointment of a certain vintage. In Kolkata in 1999, those who were stunned into silence as Soaib Akhtar bowled Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar in quick succession wanted to see Jasprit Bumrah run in Lahore in a Champions Trophy match against Pakistan.
Oh, they would have given anything to see Bumrah blow up Babar Azam’s stumps at the Gaddafi Stadium. That would be a story, which would set things up for several sequels, which would be a fitting revenge for Eden Gardens 25 years later.
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