India-Pakistan: An illusion of a rivalry

When was the last time you were ripped off?

Getting ripped off is pretty much a universal human experience. Kids get tricked into buying shiny toys that break down in the first try, adults get talked into investing in a pyramid scheme and lose their savings, and the elderly get duped into buying a supposed all-curing cream from online, which ends up giving them rashes.

Usually, people learn their lesson after getting duped once, and steer well clear of it. However, there are some people who never seem to learn their lesson and keep getting deceived the same way.

On Sunday, every cricket fan who tuned in to watch the India-Pakistan Group A match of the ICC T20 World Cup hoping to see a competitive game of cricket, one that lives up to all the hype surrounding the encounter, fell into this category.

In terms of generating interest, the India-Pakistan cricketing rivalry is going through a golden age -- just not where it matters.

Just consider the buildup to Sunday’s match in Colombo. For weeks, the entire cricketing world was intently following the multilateral communications to convince Pakistan to reconsider their decision to boycott the match, a stance they had taken in solidarity with Bangladesh, who were replaced by Scotland in the World Cup for refusing to play in India over security concerns.

Experts weighed in, rumours swirled, ramifications of an India-Pakistan match not happening were discussed, and eventually Pakistan reverted its stance, to the relief of the International Cricket Council (ICC) and all other stakeholders.

After that part was sorted, attention moved to the non-handshake issue, which India had started last year when its players refused to go through the customary post-match handshakes with the Pakistan team -- an unprecedented virtue-signalling move in international cricket.

Before Sunday’s match, both captains were asked about it, but no decisive answers were given, which inevitably built up more drama over what would happen.

On game day, the captains did not shake hands at the toss, and the two teams did not share the customary greeting after the match either, and in between, India completed an absolute demolition of Pakistan.

India won the match by 61 runs, but the margin of defeat does not properly reflect India’s dominance.

Having posted 175-7 after being put in to bat on a pitch that was holding up and providing turn, India killed the match inside the first five overs of the Pakistan innings by sending back four batters.

India toyed with the Pakistani batters afterwards, giving rank part-timers like Tilak Verma and Rinku Singh three overs collectively, even though all three of their frontline spinners had overs in the tank.

The only cricketing aspect that was getting any attention before the game was the curious bowling action of Pakistani spinner Usman Tariq. In the match, the off-spinner did decently with the ball, taking 1-24, and was the last Pakistan batter dismissed, getting clean bowled for a duck by Hardik Pandya and then giving a wry smile, indicative of the embarrassment Pakistan had just been dealt with.

The worst part of the entire affair is how unsurprising it all was.

Pakistan has not beaten India in any format since 2022. Overall, they have only ever won three T20Is against India and lost 13. India are the defending champions and ranked No.1 in the format, while Pakistan have not won the tournament since 2009 and are sitting at No.6.

Now, every rivalry has its ups-and-downs. In the 80s and 90s, Pakistan used to dominate India, and had a much higher win percentage.

But what has been disheartening about their encounters in recent times is the lack of fight in the Pakistani players, especially batters, who seem to get overwhelmed by the occasion and allow India to walk all over them.

Still, fans all over the world tune in to see this match in record numbers because of nostalgia, as they remember the heydays of this rivalry, when both sides used to play with their hearts on their sleeves, cricketers would battle tooth and nail for their flag and at the end of it all, a sense of camaraderie would prevail.

As the gulf between Pakistan and India widens, the prospect of those fierce matches returning grows dimmer. Still, nostalgic fans will continue tuning in every time these perennial rivals face off and then go away with the sinking feeling of getting ripped off.