Opinion Heart and mind and victory

Looking back to the religiosity of Mohali,and looking forward to an exciting final

April 2, 2011 02:21 AM IST First published on: Apr 2, 2011 at 02:21 AM IST

I had the very good fortune to be present at the Mohali match between India and Pakistan. Not the most thrilling of matches,but who needs cricket for excitement,when rivalry provides the fever? And it is this rivalry,and the PMs initiative to attempt to develop peaceful relations with Pakistan that is the subject of my heartfelt inquiry today.

In 1960,I was a few years into my deep fondness for sports,especially cricket. I was all of 12,and excitedly I went to see my first match,a Test match against Pakistan. That was the mother of the most boring of all cricket series. Maybe the England tour of 1980-81 matched it for intensity of boredom. In any case,to enjoy all cricket matches,and not just those involving India,I,like all genuine fans of a sport,had to develop a preference ordering. The natural ordering was Pakistan,and then West Indies. Today,it is Pakistan,Sri Lanka,Bangladesh,South Africa and then West Indies. There is a logic to the ordering culture and third world solidarity. If India had lost at Mohali,I would have been rooting for Pakistan in the final. My South Indian friends would most likely have cheered for Sri Lanka,and Delhi-born or -raised Tamils would be conflicted. This is not only as it is,but as it should be.

It is only a 60-year political history which divides India and Pakistan; a several- thousand-year history unites us. We are the same people,and a North Indian,especially a Punjabi,has a lot more in common with a Lahori than with a Chennai-based Tamil. And the latter has a lot more in common with a Sri Lankan than with me.

What has religion got to do with it?

Back to Mohali. The atmosphere was fantastic,and soaking that in,one realised why even high-definition TV cannot replace the unique enjoyment of an on-the-ground tamasha. So one joined in the shouting,the cheering and the camaraderie. And enjoyed doing so until the introduction of Hindutva. Havent been to other India matches for a while (the Ferozeshah Kotla ground is an embarrassment of a stadium,and smells of CWG-type scams for miles) but what logic is there in singing the hymn Vande Mataram at a cricket match? Would India supporters sing that in a match against Australia? No; then why special treatment for Pakistan?

Because the song represents Hinduism and Pakistan is Muslim. But India has more Muslims than Pakistan,or any country in the world outside of Indonesia. Should we be singing religious rhymes? The answer is obviously no. Then why did the crowd at Mohali indulge in this? My favourite cheering song is Chak de India,but I didnt hear that in my stand.

If Vande Mataram was bad enough,singing Jai Mata Di was even worse. How does that move a player to hit a six or get a wicket? But there was something good about what was not part of the cheering. A couple of attempts were made for slogans which implied death to the visitors. This was quickly snubbed by saner individuals in the audience. This is progress next time,just Chak de,please.

And,finally,one good thing that emerged with Indias victory was that one did not have to suffer hearing Afridi thanking Allah. With all the problems in the world,God certainly has better things to support than victories in a cricket match for Christs sake,please. And a final word about the absurdity of singing VM ever wondered why national anthems are not part of cheering?

And now from the mind

The quarter-finals,except for the New Zealand-South Africa and India-Australia matches,have been dreary affairs. The two semi-finals were,from a cricket excitement point of view,pretty boring. Indians and Pakistanis may have found it exciting,and,yes,1.2 billion people reside there,but hey you have got to admit that the cricket per se was well,not a thriller-in-Mohalla. CricketX had rated Indias chances of winning the match at 58 per cent,and the match lived up to the forecast. Parenthetically,Sehwag should have been given the man of the match award,because his innings was the difference between the two teams on a slow pitch taking spin.

But get set to watch an intense and close cricket match. CricketX has India as favourites,with a 52-48 per cent advantage. This is about as close as you can get. First innings score predictions: India 245,and Sri Lanka 243. At CricketX,we have developed separate indices for overall team strength,batting and bowling. Indias batting is about 7 per cent better than Lanka,its bowling about 6 per cent worse.

We have had an extraordinary run of good luck (along with good analysis!). Could this match be where we get stumped? The six ex-World Cup captains,all players extraordinaire,have Sri Lanka as firm favourites. We say that it can go either way,and will be more exciting than the last several finals. As exciting as 1983? Very possible. Chak de,India!

The writer is chairman of Oxus Investments,an emerging market advisory and fund management firm