A last ball six - and my brother cheering
a Pakistan win wildly. Circa 1986 - that's my first memory of an India-Pakistan
match.
Patriotism and nationalism aren't virtues
we are born with. Those are instilled later. To my 3-year old brother, every
wicket or boundary needed to be cheered -- a shot well-played needed to be
applauded. Having walked the earth for a few more years than him, I knew
a Pakistan win couldn't be cheered.
A year later, the World Cup came to India
and we made the semi-finals. But it went by in a flash. As defending champions,
India took on the best in the world and as far as I could comprehend from the
reactions friends and family, we gave a reasonable account of ourselves.
And then in 1992, I started bleeding
blue. Kerry Packer's pajama dream had become a World Cup reality. And I
must confess to this day, that remains my personal favourite as far the myriad
hues of India's ODI blues go... My recollection of watching India in
1991-92 centered around the buzz generated by Sachin Tendulkar. On that long
trip down under, I remember India losing but Indians marvelling at a 20-year old's
batting prowess. Waking up at the crack of dawn to watch the tests -- the
quality of TV coverage -- Channel 9 to DD was a comparison between a mature
Cognac and locally-brewed hooch.
That almost endless tour culminated in
more disappointment - India's dismal performance at the World Cup. The only
bright spark there was we beat Pakistan - the team that eventually went on to
be world champions. Oh the sweet joy of our intrepid Mr More getting Miandad's
goat, that Miandad who had so 'cruelly' hit a 6 off the last ball years earlier
at Sharjah...
And we basked in Tendulkar glory till the
tourney was back in India. 1996 it was - and I'd moved to Kolkata from Delhi by
then. I had been exposed to watching cricket at the Eden Gardens and was
hooked. My excitement at the opportunity of being able to watch a
semi-final live at the Eden Gardens was exacerbated with the joy of Venkatesh
Prasad giving Amir Sohail the send-off of the tournament. India had beat
Pakistan again. We had made it to the semi-finals - and they would play at the
Eden Gardens. What happened after that was an anti-climax we'd all want to
forget. Again Tendulkar stood out and we cheered -- our small victories.
1999 -- Not much off it since we didn't
make it even to the semi-finals. But two stand out. A belligerent Sourav
Ganguly, ably aided by Rahul Dravid taking Sri Lanka to the cleaners in Taunton
and us beating Pakistan. Would you believe it, we lost our other games in the
Super 6 stage but Pakistan, we beat. Pakistan still made to the finals where
they got knocked over by Australia, and yes OF COURSE we had them beat again.
Thrice we'd faced them and thrice we'd
beaten them... so measured in cricket matches, India beating Pakistan in a
world cup was almost normative for any boy like me growing up in the
1990s.
In 2003, we went all the way to the
finals. But the India-Pakistan tie is all that I remember. Ganguly got a zero
but we had Tendulkar getting 98 on top and then Yuvi and Jammy (aka Rahul
Dravid) finishing with flourish as India chased down a large Pakistan
total. I also remember that World Cup for Kenya making it to the finals
where we beat them. Ricky Ponting and Damien Martyn obliterated us in the
finals. Australia had won its 3rd consecutive World Cup -- and yes, we were
a little gutted - BUT we had BEATEN Pakistan.
2007 was a disaster. And we didn't get to
play Pakistan -- so no small joys to take away from the Carribean shores.
Back in India in 2011, and MSD&Co won
the cup. Apart from Dhoni hitting a huge six to win it for us, the match that
stood out for me is the semi-final against Pakistan. Again a standout
performance by Sachin Tendulkar, and our bowling held up to our neighbours in
green.
Imran Khan had once said, "Cricket
is a pressure game, and when it comes to an India-Pakistan match the pressure
is doubled." He played cricket for Pakistan for 20 years and has
over 500 international wickets. He must know what he is talking about.
Watching it from the confines of my
living or working space, I must confess being an Indian fan has been a rather
pleasurable experience... Onwards and upwards to February 15 then and another
India-Pakistan face-off at the World Cup - yeh dil mangey more!
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