It is inevitable, isn’t it? “Not on our watch! Not today!” This is how Team India’s cricketers may react if allowed to dwell on the impossibility of maintaining the team’s near-three-decade domination of Pakistan in World Cup matches.
Completely upending the regular humiliation Indian cricket tended to suffer at the hands of Pakistan in the 1980s and beyond, India have not lost to Pakistan in the World Cup, across formats, since Sydney 1992.
That was a match marked by the rise of Sachin Tendulkar and the decline of Javed Miandad, whose last-ball six, six years earlier in Sharjah, had swung the psychological pendulum Pakistan’s way. It’s since been followed by the sport’s unique cyclical shifts, the rise of T20s, the banishment of Pakistan from bilateral fixtures and a gradual erasing of Pakistani cricket and its cricketers from Indian minds.
In recent times, there have been too few games to even qualify as a rivalry, let alone a marquee one. Yet the staying power of a sporting contest built on geopolitical differences seems infinite, ensuring a money-spinner every time they do play. So what if the new crop of Pakistani cricketers are not household names in India?
If there is a stage in recent times where this dwindling rivalry has found a new toehold, it’s the T20 World Cup. This tournament, more than any other, has been all about India-Pakistan. It started with it, back in sun-drenched Durban and Johannesburg in 2007 when MS Dhoni’s fresh-faced bunch stole an era-defining title win from under Pakistan’s nose.
Denne historien er fra October 24, 2021-utgaven av The Times of India Mumbai.
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Denne historien er fra October 24, 2021-utgaven av The Times of India Mumbai.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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