India-Pakistan cricketing relations have limped along, sometimes mirroring the political reality, at other times being reflected in a distorting mirror. One thing hasn’t changed, however. Finishing second best is not a choice, writes Suresh Menon.
On India’s first tour of Pakistan in 1954-55, the host captain Abdul Hafeez Kardar, the Oxfordeducated martinet wrote in his newspaper column: “May the better side win, and the second best take its defeat with grace.”
But so terrified were the respective captains of finishing second best that in the first two decades, the teams played out 12 drawn Tests in a row out of a total of 15, with India winning two and Pakistan one of the first three.
The hangover has lasted more than half a century. Fans on either side of the border are willing to forgive any defeat so long as it is not to the other.
Through some poor World Cup performances, Indian fans have consoled themselves with the thought that at least they beat Pakistan each time.
Such strong antipathy can only arise from a passion that comes from a shared history. This is sibling rivalry on the sporting field, sharpened by politicians, media and advertising.
The latest to-ing and froing ahead of the World T20 was merely a repetition of what has gone before: politicians bickering, the anti-Pakistan brigade frothing at the mouth, Pakistan Cricket Board searching for muscle to flex, the media stoking the uncertainty. Just the normal build-up.
History, geography, economics, psychology have all played their roles in kneading India-Pakistan relations into different shapes at different times. Sport does not exist in a vacuum, divorced from political realities, and this has affected cricket too.
The cricket fan sometimes clings to what George Orwell called the “lunatic habit of identifying with larger power units, and seeing everything in terms of competitive prestige.” Patriotism should have no role in a sporting contest, even if that is what gives competition the edge, and attracts eyeballs to television.
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