The Hindu : A BREAKTHROUGH CRICKET SERIES

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Mar 26, 2004

Opinion

Opinion - Editorials

A BREAKTHROUGH CRICKET SERIES

THE INDIAN CRICKET team's convincing victory over Pakistan in the fifth and deciding match of the Samsung ODI series on Wednesday night predictably set off celebrations round the country. Even as Indian fans in Lahore burst firecrackers to celebrate India's first series win in Pakistan, ecstatic cricket-lovers took out processions in several parts of the country, from Jammu and Mumbai to Chennai and Bangalore. In the past, victory celebrations were marked by negative emotions; for many Indian and Pakistani fans, the rival team's defeat seemed to taste sweeter than their own side's triumph. It was heartening that thigh-slapping jingoism was largely absent this time — a clear reflection of how much things have changed, on and off the cricket field, in bilateral relations.

India-Pakistan cricket has always been more than just cricket. With religion, wars and conflict over disputed territory forming a volatile backdrop, the game was quite often seen through Orwellian eyes as "war minus shooting." Carrying the huge burden of expectations and fearing public ire and backlash, players from both countries were often too cautious, with the result that the games — particularly the Test matches — tended to be played below par. But the events of the Samsung series, in which 2963 runs were scored at an astonishing average of 296.30 per innings, do suggest a new ball game. For sustained quality, the matches may not have been the finest ever between the two countries but they were conducted, contested, supervised, and watched in the best of spirits. It might not be romantic to claim that people on both sides of the Line of Control (LoC) have so distanced themselves from the acrimony and bellicosity of the past that they are now able to celebrate a great sporting rivalry for what it is — as England and Australia have long done in contesting the Ashes. Cynics may argue that the `Friendship Series' camaraderie amounts to nothing more than manufactured `feel good'. But the superb organisation and hospitality laid out for the Indian cricketers by their Pakistani hosts and the genuine affection with which Sourav Ganguly and his men have been greeted by lay fans in Karachi, Peshawar and Lahore tell a tale that defies cynicism.

Inzamam-ul-Haq (340 runs, including two centuries) was justly adjudged Man of the Series. The laidback Pakistani captain not only played two brilliant innings but also carried himself with a sort of old-fashioned equanimity, displaying a sense of fair play that is rarely encountered in this day and age. He might have felt a touch let down by his fast bowlers, although the Indian batting line-up is so strong that few bowling teams can be expected to make an impression against it, especially on the pitches of the subcontinent. From the moment Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag walked out to bat in the first ODI at Karachi, the series turned into a run feast. If Tendulkar came up with a masterly century in Rawalpindi, V.V.S. Laxman was all wristy elegance as he stroked his way to a better-than-run-a-ball 107 to settle the series outcome. And the contributions made by the dependable Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh and Mohammed Kaif were hardly negligible. Yet for India the man of the series was 19-year-old Irfan Pathan, whose youthful zeal and ability to swing the ball broke the back of the Pakistan top order time and again. Selected only for the last three matches, the young man from Gujarat picked up eight wickets at 17.87 apiece to top the bowling averages. Ganguly's team will surely take a lot of positives into the three-Test series beginning March 28. Independent of the outcome, it is clear that India's breakthrough cricket expedition to Pakistan has produced winners all round.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Opinion

News Update

Stories in this Section

A BREAKTHROUGH CRICKET SERIES

SAVING THE TIGER

India and the U.S.-Pakistan alliance

J&K: legalised discrimination

Arithmetic and alliances

A counterpoint to Dr. Swamy