Pakistan’s upcoming tour of India
By ManiaPak
February 11 2005
There really is no parallel in the cricketing world (possibly in sports as a whole) with one of these blockbuster encounters between these cricketing behemoths.
By ManiaPak
February 11 2005
There really is no parallel in the cricketing world (possibly in sports as a whole) with one of these blockbuster encounters between these cricketing behemoths.
There is a lot of history behind any India vs Pakistan match and without a doubt passions will always run high. In fact the rivalry between these two great cricketing nations makes The Ashes look like a club competition.
It’s not unusual to hear about supporters killing themselves after a loss or even dying from heart attacks after a close game. It’s also difficult to keep politics away from sports and India in the past has refused to play Pakistan in non multi-national tournaments citing political differences. In fact for a period of around 15 years (between 89 and 04) India didn’t play a single test in Pakistan despite Pakistan making continual overtures and even touring India themselves for a test series in 1999!
Many have argued that this period of political tension suspiciously coincided with the one of the strongest Pakistani teams in history if not THE strongest. Others have said that Pakistan’s dominance over India in cricket didn’t sit too well with the powers that be, whatever the real reasons were behind the refusal to play thankfully it didn’t last forever.
In 2003 Pakistan’s biggest stars like Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Saeed Anwar, etc were unceremoniously ousted from the team, a new fledgling Pakistani team was born and India began making noises about wanting to schedule some cricket! Since 2004 there has been a complete turnaround in cricketing relations between these two nations.
The two countries who at one point had only played 3 tests in a period of 15 years and didn’t play each other outside multi-nation tournaments were suddenly best friends overnight! We have now come to the other extreme where in a period of 15 months, India and Pakistan are scheduled to play 6 tests and 14 ODI’s. Whatever the reason for this unfathomable change of heart by the Indians, ultimately there is only going to be one winner and that’s CRICKET!!
India turned 2004 into a year of firsts. They recorded their first ever individual 300, their first ever ODI series win in Pakistan, their first ever Test win in Pakistan and their first ever Test series win in Pakistan! The Indian juggernaut didn’t just beat Pakistan during the test series but they rolled over the Pakistani youngsters with two innings victories to win the series 2-1.
The time has come for the Pakistani’s to give their response by travelling to India for their first test series on Indian soil in half a decade.
Last year during the series in Pakistan the touring Indian supporters were taken aback by the generosity of the Pakistani people and now all eyes are on the notoriously partisan Indian fans to see if they can match it!
In many ways there will be two series being played, one will be on the pitch between the players and the other will be off the pitch between the supporters! In 2004 India won the cricket but Pakistan won the hearts of the Indian supporters, this year it’s still all to play for. Shiv Sena digging up the pitch recently wasnt exactly the best way to kickstart the tour but then Shiv Sena digging up the pitch before a Pakistani tour has almost become a ritual, lets hope it brings Pakistan some luck!
It’s not unusual to hear about supporters killing themselves after a loss or even dying from heart attacks after a close game. It’s also difficult to keep politics away from sports and India in the past has refused to play Pakistan in non multi-national tournaments citing political differences. In fact for a period of around 15 years (between 89 and 04) India didn’t play a single test in Pakistan despite Pakistan making continual overtures and even touring India themselves for a test series in 1999!
Many have argued that this period of political tension suspiciously coincided with the one of the strongest Pakistani teams in history if not THE strongest. Others have said that Pakistan’s dominance over India in cricket didn’t sit too well with the powers that be, whatever the real reasons were behind the refusal to play thankfully it didn’t last forever.
In 2003 Pakistan’s biggest stars like Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Saeed Anwar, etc were unceremoniously ousted from the team, a new fledgling Pakistani team was born and India began making noises about wanting to schedule some cricket! Since 2004 there has been a complete turnaround in cricketing relations between these two nations.
The two countries who at one point had only played 3 tests in a period of 15 years and didn’t play each other outside multi-nation tournaments were suddenly best friends overnight! We have now come to the other extreme where in a period of 15 months, India and Pakistan are scheduled to play 6 tests and 14 ODI’s. Whatever the reason for this unfathomable change of heart by the Indians, ultimately there is only going to be one winner and that’s CRICKET!!
India turned 2004 into a year of firsts. They recorded their first ever individual 300, their first ever ODI series win in Pakistan, their first ever Test win in Pakistan and their first ever Test series win in Pakistan! The Indian juggernaut didn’t just beat Pakistan during the test series but they rolled over the Pakistani youngsters with two innings victories to win the series 2-1.
The time has come for the Pakistani’s to give their response by travelling to India for their first test series on Indian soil in half a decade.
Last year during the series in Pakistan the touring Indian supporters were taken aback by the generosity of the Pakistani people and now all eyes are on the notoriously partisan Indian fans to see if they can match it!
In many ways there will be two series being played, one will be on the pitch between the players and the other will be off the pitch between the supporters! In 2004 India won the cricket but Pakistan won the hearts of the Indian supporters, this year it’s still all to play for. Shiv Sena digging up the pitch recently wasnt exactly the best way to kickstart the tour but then Shiv Sena digging up the pitch before a Pakistani tour has almost become a ritual, lets hope it brings Pakistan some luck!
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