<p>I’m gonna have to start winning some of the matches to call it a rivalry!” Andy Roddick’s hilarious response to media hype about his ‘rivalry’ with Roger Federer was both damning and revealing. The self-deprecating American won just three of 24 professional matches against the Swiss maestro, so it isn’t hard to see where he is coming from.</p>.<p>Were India less gracious, they could probably say the same in reverse of their much-vaunted rivalry in World Cup cricket against Pakistan. Until exactly 12 months back, the Indians held a perfect 12-0 record against their neighbours in World Cups of the 50- and 20-over varieties. It was 13th time lucky for Pakistan when, on October 24 last year, they finally broke the hoodoo, surging to a ten-wicket win in the T20 World Cup in Dubai.</p>.<p>Comprehensive as that result was, the hoopla in its aftermath was telling. The surging waves of jingoism were only matched by vitriolic reactions from India’s fans, quick to point out that one swallow does not a summer make. The controversy following ACC president Jay Shah’s assertion that next year’s Asia Cup would be moved out of Pakistan, countered by the Pakistan board’s threat to pull out of the 50-over World Cup in India, also in 2023, has added greater spice to an already simmering contest.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/sports/cricket/t20-world-cup-india-elects-to-field-first-against-pakistan-1156090.html" target="_blank">T20 World Cup: India elects to field first against Pakistan</a></strong></p>.<p>The protagonists, however, are too mature and sensible to be caught in the crossfire, discovering ways to insulate themselves from the mayhem around them, though it is inevitable that they will not approach any contest between the sides as ‘just another game of cricket’.</p>.<p>Weather permitting, a brand-new chapter in this most intriguing face-off will be scripted at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday, in the opening T20 World Cup 2022 encounter for both teams. The International Cricket Council knows which side of the bread is buttered; India vs Pakistan in the league phase of ICC events has been a constant since the 2012 T20 World Cup, a fallout of the disastrous 50-over World Cup in the Caribbean in 2007 when both failed to advance beyond the first stage.</p>.<p>There is no denying the camaraderie that has characterised the relationship between the players over the decades. Despite the mindless raking up of nationalistic fervour and attaching a significance that allegedly extends beyond the cricket field, cricketers from both sides of the border have chosen to focus on innumerable common grounds rather than the not insignificant political differences, and tensions, that have repeatedly been fanned per convenience. Occasionally, they are forced to play along because of unavoidable pulls and pressures but for the most part, they follow their own hearts and minds.</p>.<p>What else would explain Pakistan skipper Babar Azam’s tweet a couple of months back, throwing his weight behind a struggling Virat Kohli when even the most passionate Indian fan wanted the former captain’s head? Or Kohli himself walking up to Shaheen Shah Afridi in Dubai in August to enquire about the left-arm paceman’s recovery from a knee injury that once threatened his World Cup prospects?</p>.<p>International sport is high stakes as it is, without having to play under the giant shadow of misplaced nationalism. That India and Pakistan haven’t played bilateral cricket since January 2013 adds a greater allure to their global or continental showdowns, of which there haven’t been too many to satiate the itch either. So whenever these Asian giants lock horns in neutral venues at major tournaments, be it in Centurion or Colombo, Manchester or Melbourne, joie de vivre is pretty much the order of the day.</p>.<p>It shouldn’t be any different at the MCG. Close to 90,000 spectators, a vast majority unashamedly pro-Indian, will contribute vibrancy, noise, colour and electricity of the sort not witnessed even during Ashes Tests Down Under. To most of them, it will be a celebration of the sport, a chance to cheer their heroes and enjoy the entertainment.</p>.<p>A win for ‘their’ side will be most welcome, but it won’t necessarily be be-all and end-all. Brilliant, because that’s what sport is supposed to do – unite, not divide.</p>.<p>(R Kaushik is a senior cricket writer)</p>
<p>I’m gonna have to start winning some of the matches to call it a rivalry!” Andy Roddick’s hilarious response to media hype about his ‘rivalry’ with Roger Federer was both damning and revealing. The self-deprecating American won just three of 24 professional matches against the Swiss maestro, so it isn’t hard to see where he is coming from.</p>.<p>Were India less gracious, they could probably say the same in reverse of their much-vaunted rivalry in World Cup cricket against Pakistan. Until exactly 12 months back, the Indians held a perfect 12-0 record against their neighbours in World Cups of the 50- and 20-over varieties. It was 13th time lucky for Pakistan when, on October 24 last year, they finally broke the hoodoo, surging to a ten-wicket win in the T20 World Cup in Dubai.</p>.<p>Comprehensive as that result was, the hoopla in its aftermath was telling. The surging waves of jingoism were only matched by vitriolic reactions from India’s fans, quick to point out that one swallow does not a summer make. The controversy following ACC president Jay Shah’s assertion that next year’s Asia Cup would be moved out of Pakistan, countered by the Pakistan board’s threat to pull out of the 50-over World Cup in India, also in 2023, has added greater spice to an already simmering contest.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/sports/cricket/t20-world-cup-india-elects-to-field-first-against-pakistan-1156090.html" target="_blank">T20 World Cup: India elects to field first against Pakistan</a></strong></p>.<p>The protagonists, however, are too mature and sensible to be caught in the crossfire, discovering ways to insulate themselves from the mayhem around them, though it is inevitable that they will not approach any contest between the sides as ‘just another game of cricket’.</p>.<p>Weather permitting, a brand-new chapter in this most intriguing face-off will be scripted at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday, in the opening T20 World Cup 2022 encounter for both teams. The International Cricket Council knows which side of the bread is buttered; India vs Pakistan in the league phase of ICC events has been a constant since the 2012 T20 World Cup, a fallout of the disastrous 50-over World Cup in the Caribbean in 2007 when both failed to advance beyond the first stage.</p>.<p>There is no denying the camaraderie that has characterised the relationship between the players over the decades. Despite the mindless raking up of nationalistic fervour and attaching a significance that allegedly extends beyond the cricket field, cricketers from both sides of the border have chosen to focus on innumerable common grounds rather than the not insignificant political differences, and tensions, that have repeatedly been fanned per convenience. Occasionally, they are forced to play along because of unavoidable pulls and pressures but for the most part, they follow their own hearts and minds.</p>.<p>What else would explain Pakistan skipper Babar Azam’s tweet a couple of months back, throwing his weight behind a struggling Virat Kohli when even the most passionate Indian fan wanted the former captain’s head? Or Kohli himself walking up to Shaheen Shah Afridi in Dubai in August to enquire about the left-arm paceman’s recovery from a knee injury that once threatened his World Cup prospects?</p>.<p>International sport is high stakes as it is, without having to play under the giant shadow of misplaced nationalism. That India and Pakistan haven’t played bilateral cricket since January 2013 adds a greater allure to their global or continental showdowns, of which there haven’t been too many to satiate the itch either. So whenever these Asian giants lock horns in neutral venues at major tournaments, be it in Centurion or Colombo, Manchester or Melbourne, joie de vivre is pretty much the order of the day.</p>.<p>It shouldn’t be any different at the MCG. Close to 90,000 spectators, a vast majority unashamedly pro-Indian, will contribute vibrancy, noise, colour and electricity of the sort not witnessed even during Ashes Tests Down Under. To most of them, it will be a celebration of the sport, a chance to cheer their heroes and enjoy the entertainment.</p>.<p>A win for ‘their’ side will be most welcome, but it won’t necessarily be be-all and end-all. Brilliant, because that’s what sport is supposed to do – unite, not divide.</p>.<p>(R Kaushik is a senior cricket writer)</p>