Dhananjay Devasper

No cricket match has aura, buzz and electric atmosphere that of an India-Pakistan match – not even the Ashes. India have an all-win record across different formats against Pakistan. But Pakistan had a critical win against India in the warm-up game before the start of the 2012 T20 World Cup.

Every World Cup has its share of matches that generally tend to overshadow the essence of the tournament, primarily on account of the rivalry between the teams and in some cases the "over the top" jingoism that sometimes accompanies it. An India-Pakistan cricket match offers that and more. 

September 8, 2012 marks the comeback of India’s World Cup hero, Yuvraj Singh. The media coverage has been relentless about the Prince, who cheated death to make a comeback. The cacophony is so loud that everything else from a sporting perspective seems to be drowned out. The fact that it is a T20 match between India and NZ seems to have taken a backseat

While on-field interest levels in the fifth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) have taken a beating, off-field incidents involving the central figures of the world’s premier T20 league have opened a Pandora’s box and ensured that the championship stays in primetime news – even if for all the wrong reasons. Everyone seems to be getting into the action now - owners, Bollywood stars, cricket officials, the Sports Minister and even women’s rights groups. Cricket has firmly taken a backseat for now. 

A Super Sunday it was, and one which was a treat for all cricket lovers. Double-headers played on superb batting wickets, which went down to the wire, runs were aplenty and emotions at a high. It could have been a script written in Hollywood, except that it was all happening right here in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

After the elation of Sachin Tendulkar’s 100th ton came the heartbreak, when Bangladesh managed to chase down the target that India had set with some inspired batting and thanks to insipid bowling by Irfan Pathan and Praveen Kumar at the end.