As a child, when I was growing, I was told that Ashes was the mother of all Series and that winning the Ashes was the most important thing in a career of a International Cricket from Australia or England. But even the purist have to agree that over the last 3 decades nothing matches the excitement offered by a Indo- Pak series. Fortunately or unfortunately, the clash between the arch rivals is just more than a just a game. It was very well depicted in the recent Bollywood block buster “Chuk De India” where it was shown that one game turned the life of a man upside down. Didn’t it reflect the career of Chetan Sharma whose life couldn’t be same again after the infamous last ball six by Miadad.
In fact the main reason for Indo Pak series are so famous are due to the fact that players from both the teams cross the limits of possible and go on to do things which are almost hard to believe. Who can forget Miadad’s last ball six, Prasad’s famous comeback in the Bangalore Quarter Final in 96, Sachin’s arrival in International cricket against Qadir, Shoiab’s Yorker to Dravid, Aqeeb Jawed’s LBW hattrick in Sharjah, Sehwag’s Triple at Multan, Kumble’s perfect 10 at the Kotla and the most recent Misbah’s flick to find a mallu at short fine leg to loose the T20 World cup. These are some of the finest moments in International cricket and hence no one can underplay the importance of a Indo- Pak series.
This year has been a mixed kind of year for both India and Pakistan.. Out from the world cup in 1st round. India then went on to beat Bangladesh in Bangladesh, S. Africa in Ireland in 3 match series, won the English test series, lost the One day series, Won the T20 cup and then lost a home series to Australia. Similarly Pakistan lost both One day and test series at home to S. Africa after having reached the finals of T20 Cup.
However, in this it does not matter what form a team is in nor does the reputation of a player matters and hence I am not going to tell you that on paper Indians look the favorites. But as it is very clear, it is just on paper. For all practical purposes, it is safe to assume that this series will be a cracker of a series. Players would be tested not just on their talent but mental resolve as well because these games separate the men from the boys.
This India-Pakistan series would be of the utmost importance because it is a series between two countries who share so much history between them. History that has blazed the two cricket fanatic nations with feverish excitement every time the two arch-rivals have met on a cricketing field, history which has epic battles that have set one nation in a frenzy while the other mourns and history which with every series has been recreated.
Come November 5 and the world will have its eyes on the mother of all series. As is said, 'It doesn’t get bigger than this.'
This is Vikas Gupta from the City that saw closest Indo Pak matches … Dubai (Sharjah isn’t that far :) )
In fact the main reason for Indo Pak series are so famous are due to the fact that players from both the teams cross the limits of possible and go on to do things which are almost hard to believe. Who can forget Miadad’s last ball six, Prasad’s famous comeback in the Bangalore Quarter Final in 96, Sachin’s arrival in International cricket against Qadir, Shoiab’s Yorker to Dravid, Aqeeb Jawed’s LBW hattrick in Sharjah, Sehwag’s Triple at Multan, Kumble’s perfect 10 at the Kotla and the most recent Misbah’s flick to find a mallu at short fine leg to loose the T20 World cup. These are some of the finest moments in International cricket and hence no one can underplay the importance of a Indo- Pak series.
This year has been a mixed kind of year for both India and Pakistan.. Out from the world cup in 1st round. India then went on to beat Bangladesh in Bangladesh, S. Africa in Ireland in 3 match series, won the English test series, lost the One day series, Won the T20 cup and then lost a home series to Australia. Similarly Pakistan lost both One day and test series at home to S. Africa after having reached the finals of T20 Cup.
However, in this it does not matter what form a team is in nor does the reputation of a player matters and hence I am not going to tell you that on paper Indians look the favorites. But as it is very clear, it is just on paper. For all practical purposes, it is safe to assume that this series will be a cracker of a series. Players would be tested not just on their talent but mental resolve as well because these games separate the men from the boys.
This India-Pakistan series would be of the utmost importance because it is a series between two countries who share so much history between them. History that has blazed the two cricket fanatic nations with feverish excitement every time the two arch-rivals have met on a cricketing field, history which has epic battles that have set one nation in a frenzy while the other mourns and history which with every series has been recreated.
Come November 5 and the world will have its eyes on the mother of all series. As is said, 'It doesn’t get bigger than this.'
This is Vikas Gupta from the City that saw closest Indo Pak matches … Dubai (Sharjah isn’t that far :) )
