With just over a week to go, there is a nice zing to the India-Pakistan contest. That Pakistan chased down 350 against South Africa has added to the build-up. While India go in as favourites, the absence of Jasprit Bumrah has kind of evened out the contest. No Saim Ayub means Pakistan lack firepower at the top of the order, and with Bumrah ruled out, India have been dealt an even bigger blow.
Given that the contest is in Dubai, Pakistan will enjoy significant support. Any other country, and the crowd would have been a sea of blue. We saw the same in Melbourne in 2022, where the blue ocean overwhelmed the pockets of green, and things weren’t much different in Manchester in 2019. Had the game been played in Sri Lanka, Indian fans would have taken over the island. Dubai, however, will be different, as we have seen during the 2021 T20 World Cup. There is a fairly large and prosperous Pakistani diaspora in Dubai, and some fans will also travel from Lahore and Karachi. The support is expected to be equal and that should further help the build-up.
As I have argued multiple times before, for the contest to retain its charm, we need a strong Pakistan. The Champions Trophy final in 2017 was an aberration, and till 2019 at least, India were a far superior side. In fact, every former Pakistani cricketer and journalist, on the eve of that 2019 match, agreed that India would start as overwhelming favourites and it would be a real surprise if Pakistan managed to beat Virat Kohli and his team.
That was not what this rivalry needed. Unless there is competition, there is no needle. 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, for some years, was turning into an overhyped spectacle which the cricket world could live without.
Finally, things changed in Dubai in 2021. A resurgent Pakistan led by Babar Azam and Shaheen Shah Afridi tore into an undercooked India and made a real statement. With Shaheen, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf bowling, it was an excellent all-round attack.
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Even in the clash on August 28, 2022, at the same Dubai stadium, Pakistan were valiant in defending 148. They managed to push India back at the top, and had it not been for the individual brilliance of Hardik Pandya, the match could have gone their way. The way young Naseem bowled despite suffering from serious cramps was excellent to see. Even when he wasn’t able to stand straight, he ran in hard, bowled at 140 kmph and even picked up the wicket of Suryakumar Yadav. An edge-of-the-seat battle was what we witnessed, and that’s what Dubai delivered.
All of this helped set up the clash on October 23, 2022 in Australia, a match now immortalised by the individual brilliance of Kohli. Thereafter, however, the 2023 World Cup clash in Ahmedabad was yet again one-sided with India completely dominant. Both the Dubai and Melbourne games were also played in an excellent spirit on and off the field, with no reports of intimidatory or hostile behaviour in the stands.
As thick as the atmosphere is with political overtones when India play Pakistan, maybe fans on both sides – especially given that today is Valentine’s Day – can buy into the message that the NFL had in the end zones for last weekend’s Super Bowl. ‘Choose love,’ it said, a reminder that sport doesn’t have to mirror the ugliness of the society around it.
Now, we are back in Dubai again. Can the game stand up to be what the fans expect, or will it be a damp squib? For everyone associated with the tournament, its success could well depend on the eventual answer.
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