Published: Mar 30, 2011, 10:10 AM (IST)
Edited: Mar 18, 2014, 06:20 PM (IST)
By Madan Mohan
From the mid-90s to date, I have never known hype of the kind I have seen in the run-up to…uh, you guessed it already! You’d have to be living under a rock not to, but just in case, I am talking about the India–Pakistan semi-final match to be played at Mohali on Wednesday.
It was their 1996 World Cup encounter that brought home what India versus Pakistan meant. For the first time, I saw friends get tense and clench teeth as Saeed Anwar and Aamir Sohail seemed to make light of a strong target. But I have never known any cricket match to balloon into a national obsession. Several offices are closing in time for the match, if not for the day, as such. Politicians are having a field day and Aman ki Asha gets a resurrection. What in the name of God is going on?
A prominent cricket writer had observed that Sachin Tendulkar used to be an oasis of hope and an escape zone for Indians in the ’90s, but moved off marginally in the noughties as the middle class began to taste the power of money.
Well, if not Tendulkar, cricket is certainly bigger than ever before in India, at least for the duration of this match and its build-up. Regardless of who comes up trumps in the clash, it is hard to see even the final dwarfing this for sheer hype and anticipation. Suggestions made in some quarters a few years ago that a new generation would gradually drift towards other games enjoying more popularity worldwide seem grossly misplaced, at least as of now. If you’re in India and aren’t watching the India-Pakistan match, you’d be in a rather lonely place.
I have expressed my disappointment before at tweaking the format at giving easier passage to the business end for the major teams, possibly with an eye on India and Pakistan. But as a student of commerce, I am not blind to the economic justification of it playing out right before my eyes. This then is what the channels and sponsors had hoped for – the power of frenzy and passion for cricket in a very large demographic. I just hope they don’t get greedy for more growth, as they call it.
But I am writing on a cricket website, so I’ll move now from the economics of cricket to the cricket itself. This is simply too close to call. Pakistan has done better than India so far in this World Cup, but their bowling successes may be negated by India’s expertise in playing spin bowling. Similarly, Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s dependence on part-timers could backfire against Pakistan, and especially against seasoned campaigners Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq.
Traditionally, Pakistan has handled the pressure of big matches better than India, but Dhoni brushes aside pressure with a nonchalant chuckle. Besides, Pakistan has never beaten India in a World Cup clash, not even in 1992 and 1999 when it returned home with a lot more to smile about than India. Will that change this time?
I won’t dwell more on this subject because there’s not much to say that hasn’t already been said by now. But whatever happens, we’d have witnessed cricket mania of unforeseeable proportions. We’d have watched cricket completely occupy the consciousness of the entire nation (I won’t presume to speak on behalf of Pakistan). It simply doesn’t get any bigger than this. India-Pakistan like no India-Pakistan you’ve known before.
(Madan Mohan, a 25-year old CA from Mumbai, is passionate about writing, music and cricket. Writing on cricket is like the icing on the cake)
