Big experts are commenting on the outcome of the Pakistan-India match, wild horses of speculation are running wild, there are various ideas on social media, references to history and a glut of statistics. Amidst all this, one fact that is being talked about to the point of not being possible is that this cricket match was supposed to be held in Pakistan, but due to the politics of the game, it is now taking place in Dubai.
‘I am surprised that I should cry my heart out or eat my liver’
The match result came in someone’s favor, but cricket has lost.
In English news, the text of the news, based on the capital, is like this: Delhi decided this or Islamabad’s position was this. With the exception of this style of speech, it can be said that Delhi has decided not to play cricket in Pakistan, while it was also given the option that it could play the entire match in Lahore if it wanted. But he, disregarding his historical and cultural ties with the city, showed his willingness to play cricket in a soulless and high-rise city and flatly refused to come to the city whose residents always made the Indian team sit on their heads. Many examples of nearness and farness can be given in Delhi and Lahore.
Shahid Ahmed Dehlvi has written in his sketch of Meera Ji:
‘Delhi and Lahore were our home courtyards. Whenever we wanted, we would pick up our heads and walk. After finishing our food, we boarded the Frontier Mail at night and slept. When we opened our eyes, we found that the car was parked at Lahore. We used to visit Lahore several times a year.’
This was the map before partition, which later became so distorted that we just don’t ask. Josh Malihabadi had written in a letter to Habib Ashar Dehlvi in the time before migration to Pakistan:
‘The distance between Lahore and Delhi is only a few hundred miles, but it is an environmental and eventual distance. Almighty Allah.
‘Between the Kaaba and the idol house, the distance is one step away
Between the Sheikh and the Brahmin, thousands of miles’
(The Kaaba and the idol house are one step away, the distance between the Sheikh and the Brahmin is thousands of miles)
All these are the preludes to the angst that has arisen due to India’s refusal to play the Champions Trophy in Pakistan. Now we examine its impact and implications on cricket and politics, starting with the oddities that have arisen due to India’s insistence on not playing in Pakistan.
There is much talk that Pakistan is hosting an ICC event after 29 years since the 1996 World Cup, but there is a big difference between hosting then and now. In 1996, it was decided before the tournament started that the World Cup final would be held in the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, so a lot of money was spent to give it a new look. This time, a lot of preparations have been made for the Champions Trophy and the stadium has a new look. Ironically, it is not yet decided whether the final of the tournament will be held in Lahore because this can only happen if the Indian team does not reach the final. In 1996, there was no such condition, so if India had won the semi-final from Sri Lanka in Kolkata, it would have had to come to Lahore for the final. After 29 years, where we have reached after walking on a winding path, see the poem of the famous poet Abbas Tabish:
Our feet were upside down, what would have happened if we had just walked
We have come a long way but have come a long way behind
India knows before the start of the tournament where it has to play the final and semi-finals, but for the other teams, this mystery will be solved only a few days before the final whether they have to try their luck in the UAE or in Pakistan.
India has to play in one country and one ground and not bother to go anywhere else while its rivals will be guests of two countries and will try to adjust to two different environments.
In 2021, the International Cricket Council had approved the 15-match Champions Trophy to be held on Pakistani soil, which was shifted to Dubai under a hybrid model after India refused to play in Pakistan, while Pakistan has been participating in ICC competitions in India for the past several years. The latest example of this is the 2023 ODI World Cup, of which 9 matches were played by the Pakistan team on Indian soil. I wish the Indian team had come to Pakistan to play in this spirit, it would have raised hopes of improving relations between the two countries and cricket enthusiasts would have been excited about it, but alas, this golden opportunity was wasted.
I have read various articles about India’s dominance in cricket, but two of them are more noteworthy because one of them is not so-called nationalism and the other is not a matter of being read as much as possible, the position is based on reason rather than emotion.
The first article is by renowned cricket writer Tim Wigmore, which was published in the Telegraph on December 23, 2024, and the second is the column by prominent Pakistani journalist Zahid Hussain in Arab News on February 14, which was also under discussion at the Faiz Festival.
First, let’s talk about Tim Wigmore’s article, who wrote that cricket’s reputation was sacrificed for India. The final of the tournament will also be held in the host country if India is unable to access it. In Wigmore’s opinion, this is a manifestation of India’s ability to bend the cricket world to its will. He also talks about the relationship between cricket and politics. He believes that Indian cricket and politics were not so intertwined before. He also draws attention to the appointment of Jay Shah, son of Indian Home Minister Amit Shah, as the ICC chief after stepping down as BCCI secretary.
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