The ugly conclusion of the Asia Cup event, at the finals in Dubai, where Pakistan Cricket Board president Mohsin Naqvi literally ran away with the trophy after refusing to hand it over to India despite their winning the final, is the lowest point between the two arch rivals, India and Pakistan.
It was undoubtedly not gracious on part of the Indian players to refuse to accept the trophy from Naqvi, as he was supposed to present it, being the Chairman of the Asian Cricket Council. He also happens to be Pakistan’s Federal Interior Minister. He, in turn, acted in the most ungraceful and immature manner by walking away with the trophy.
Presentation of the trophy is just a symbolic event, as the real victory was scored on the field. It needs to be acknowledged that despite his team losing the match to India amid such hostile atmosphere, Naqvi was ready to present the trophy to the Indian cricket team. Had it happened in the normal course, it would certainly have sent a good message.
Nationalistic fervour aside, Indian players did no good by refusing to accept the trophy from Naqvi. Our cricketers must learn and understand that they had gone to Dubai to play cricket and not fight a war. The war is better left to the soldiers. Nor were they there to score any diplomatic victories over their cricketing counterparts. They played their game extraordinarily well. At the end of the day, they exhibited a sheer lack of sportsmanship spirit.
The attitude and behaviour of the Pakistani cricketers was not good either. But their ugly behaviour does not justify the behaviour of our cricketers who are known for their grace and dignity and are respected for across the world. If Indian cricket is ruling the world, the primary credit undoubtedly goes to our cricketers who have always played the game so well and maintained their dignity. They should not have gotten carried away by the social media-driven nationwide sentiment, which was prevailing everywhere in view of the Pahalgam terror attack.
The episode reminds of the golden moments when Indian ace javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra lost the gold medal to Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Neeraj’s mother Saroj congratulated Nadeem saying he was like her own son.
Prior to that, Chopra had also helped Nadeem in getting his javelin, as his equipment was not good enough to make him compete in the Olympics. Eventually, Nadeem ‘out-threw’ Chopra in the Olympics and won the gold. There was still no bitterness shown by Neeraj. More importantly, Neeraj was earlier with the Indian Army. He is now honorary Lt Col in the Territorial Army.
Sporting rivalry is not unique or exclusive to India and Pakistan only. England and Australia are more intense cricketing rivals than India and Pakistan. The club football rivalry, particularly in Europe and more so in England, is of fanatic levels. Fans are fanatic supporters of their respective clubs, and this fanaticism at times surpasses religious fanaticism.
Cricket, for some unexplained reasons, has become the second religion of people in South Asia whether in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka or Bangladesh. The first three have already been world champions and have dominated the game for a long time. This goes without saying that cricket is the most popular sport in the entire subcontinent. It naturally leads to crazy fan following.
When it comes to a tie between India and Pakistan, it no longer remains merely a sporting event. It generates strong emotions like a war between the two countries. That is the reason that while the actual war between the two countries lasted for just four days, before Pakistan pleaded for ceasefire, the sporting war is still going on with greater intensity.
Not many people know that cricket had an important role to play in the current Kashmir problem, which started with armed insurgency in 1989-90 and is still continuing, although not with same intensity. Pakistani cricketers were and still continue to be the heroes of Kashmiris. Cricketers like Imran Khan and Javed Miandad remain the ideals for the Kashmiri youth.
Also read: Eclipsed by hostilities, it’s anything but cricket
After March-1986 Sharjah Cup Final, which Pakistan won with Javed Miandad hitting that epic six on the last ball of the match to Chetan Sharma, Pakistan had started dominating the Indians in cricket. Earlier, it was the other way round, as India would often beat Pakistan frequently and regularly.
Since the tables turned, the Pakistan cricket stars became “ideals” and “heroes” for the Kashmiri youth. They related and identified with Imran and Miandad, instead of Gavaskar and Kapil Dev and not even Azharuddin. These hardcore fans of the Pakistan cricket team became easy targets to be tamed for secessionist activities, including armed militancy and terrorism.
Cricket actually has defined a lot in the relationship between India and Pakistan. When the then military dictator Pervez Musharaf was in India holding a summit meeting with Manmohan Singh in 2005, he was reportedly regularly updated about the score of the match being played in the Feozeshah Kotla ground in Delhi, through paper slips. For a while it was thought that he was getting inputs related to his negotiations. Later, when those slips were picked up, it was revealed they only carried the score of the match being played between India and Pakistan.
What happened in Dubai on Sunday is one of the ugliest episodes in cricketing history. Never ever has any such thing taken place anywhere nor should it happen again in future. Once you come to play a game, you are expected to be free from any hostile feelings against your opponent. Rivalry must not be turned into enmity. Still worse was to make a spectacle of it. It will take years to undo this. But, undone it must be.
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