As a child of the late 1980s and early 1990s, I grew up in an era when India–Pakistan cricket was pure adrenaline. Every clash felt like a battle. In Sharjah, India almost always lost, and many of us consoled ourselves by saying that Friday matches gave Pakistan an “Islamic advantage,” with stadiums stacked full of their supporters.
Those were days when Pakistan had Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, and Saeed Anwar — players who could tilt the game on their own. India, by contrast, depended on the brilliance of one man — Sachin Tendulkar — to salvage pride. The rivalry was real, intense, and competitive.
But that world has changed.
#Boring: The Cricket Reality: No Longer a Rivalry
Since the late 2000s, India has dominated Pakistan so thoroughly that calling it a “rivalry” is almost an insult to the word. Consider the numbers:
ODI World Cups: India leads Pakistan 8–0 (never lost).
T20 World Cups: India leads 6–1.
Champions Trophy: Pakistan’s lone moment of glory was the 2017 final — the exception that proves the rule.
Outside ICC events, the two sides rarely even meet anymore due to political tensions. But whenever they do, India’s batting depth, bowling variety, and fielding intensity make the gulf in class obvious. Today, Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill and Jasprit Bumrah stand as global icons, while Pakistan, apart from Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi, struggles for consistency.
And yet, the hype refuses to die. Tickets sell out in hours, broadcasters advertise “the biggest clash on earth,” and fans lose sleep. But in truth, the “match” isn’t a match at all. It’s nostalgia masquerading as competition.
The two defeats of India against Pakistan came in the Champions Trophy final of 2017 and the WT20 match in Dubai in 2021, India lost to Pakistan under Virat Kohli’s captaincy. Instead of acknowledging that the defeats came from Virat’s inability to shield his team from the hype, his die-hard followers — the “Viratians” — spun a different story. They elevated Pakistan’s bowling into a legend, as though India had been undone by some extraordinary skill. This narrative only grew when Virat played his “famous” knock in 2022 and struck that six in Melbourne. What was, in reality, just a fine cricketing moment was turned into a mythical triumph. The truth is simpler: Virat, coming from the north, never quite mastered the art of insulating his side from the emotional frenzy of an India–Pakistan game. The defeats were less about Pakistan’s talent and more about India losing the mental battle. No wonder Virat under his captaincy garnered even a IPL trophy leave aside an ICC one. His failures cannot be attributed to otherwise a clear trend.
#Uncomparable:: Beyond Cricket: A Tale of Two Nations
The asymmetry isn’t confined to cricket. Economically, politically, and socially, India and Pakistan are simply not in the same league anymore.
Economy Size (2023):
India: $3.73 trillion GDP (5th largest in the world).
Pakistan: $375 billion GDP (about the size of a mid-level Indian state).
Per Capita GDP (2023, IMF):
India: $2,730
Pakistan: $1,600
Growth Trajectory:
India is among the world’s fastest-growing major economies, a hub for technology, innovation, and investment. Pakistan, meanwhile, struggles with debt, IMF bailouts, and chronic political instability.Politics:
India, despite its flaws, remains a functioning democracy. Pakistan has been under military rule for much of its existence, and even when it isn’t, the army controls politics from the shadows.Security:
The world’s most wanted terrorist, Osama bin Laden, was found in Pakistan. The country remains a breeding ground for extremism. India, in contrast, is seen as a stable partner for democracies worldwide.
#Stop_Hype:: Why the Hype Must End
By hyping up every India–Pakistan cricket match as though it’s a battle of equals, we give Pakistan a respect it no longer deserves. A true competitor is a near-equal — and Pakistan is not.
India doesn’t need Pakistan for validation. On the field and off it, the two countries are no longer comparable. India is a rising power; Pakistan is a failing state surviving on strategic geography and foreign bailouts.
It’s time we, as Indians, stopped treating this contest as anything more than what it is: an uneven game that survives on history, not reality. The real rivalries for India — in cricket and otherwise — are with nations like Australia, England, and economically with China and the U.S. Not Pakistan.
The best way to defeat Pakistan is not by beating them again and again on the cricket field — but by ignoring them altogether.
No comments:
Post a Comment