All eyes will be on the Dubai International Stadium from midday on Sunday. India versus Pakistan is always a special clash, and it is expected that the stadium will be full and make for a real spectacle. Tickets are hard to get, and online quotas were exhausted in no time. Fans have trooped in from all parts of the world and a huge number have made it to Dubai to watch just this one clash. However, while all of this is great for the build-up, what we also need is some real competition.
Pakistan cricket – both the men’s and women’s teams – is in poor shape at the moment. And it is a real issue for the game. The sport needs a stronger Pakistan and, at the moment at least, we don’t have it. The loss against New Zealand was very disappointing for Pakistan fans, and each would be hoping to see fight on Sunday. Also, the loss was not really an aberration. Pakistan lost twice to New Zealand at home in the recently concluded tri-series and, in all honesty, never really looked like a team that would get the better of the Black Caps.
For the India-Pakistan contest to retain its charm, we need a better Pakistan. The cricket world needs a team which is not a pushover, one that can stand up and compete. In fact, every former Pakistan cricketer and journalist I spoke to in the last 24 hours agreed that India start as overwhelming favourites, and it would be a real surprise if Pakistan manage to beat Rohit Sharma and his boys. Some have even cancelled the trip to Dubai thinking that it would be a waste of money to travel and then see the side not compete.
That’s not what this rivalry needs going forward. Unless there is competition, there is no rivalry. Even a poor India seem good enough to handle Pakistan at the moment. In batting at least, India are far ahead. Even if some of the batters don’t have a good day, India are capable of scoring close to 300. That’s how good they are as a batting unit. Fans, after a point, would not want to watch one-sided games and would start to take things for granted. Frankly, the India-Pakistan contest at the moment is an overhyped spectacle which the cricket world can live without.
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So, what’s the fate of the rivalry going forward? Will fans continue to embrace it the way they have in the past, or will it gradually fade out because of Pakistan’s failure to live up to expectations? Put bluntly, it is the political significance attached to an India-Pakistan contest that is adding gloss to it in the present scenario. People watch it because there is something more than cricket at stake. While cricket is the centre piece, the extraneous factors make victory a huge deal.
Make no mistake, cricket needs this rivalry. But not in the current form where one team doesn’t even compete. The negativity surrounding Pakistan after the replacement of Fakhar Zaman – hero of the 2017 Champions Trophy final win – makes one feel that it is only India that will turn up on Sunday. And that’s what needs to change.
For world cricket, India-Pakistan is the game that matters. To make it the final before the final, Pakistan need to be better today. More so without Fakhar. With a premier batter out, Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam need to step up and make it count. For Babar, this is perhaps his final opportunity. He was selfish and downright poor against New Zealand, and there could be no better game than one against India to redeem himself. India too have to be far better than what we have seen recently, otherwise the tournament could well get tougher for them on March 2 against New Zealand. Both these teams owe it to their fans. And to world cricket.
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