Pakistani Captain Shoaib Malik’s remark thanking Muslims all over the world for praying for Pakistan’s victory couldn’t go unchallenged; and who better to refute it than our Pathan brothers, who had played no small role in defeating Pakistan? The tragedy is that while they very ably dismissed the Pakistani captain’s attempt to link of sports with religious identity, the Pathans could not afford to point out that their very own CM had been unable to delink the two.

How do the movers and shakers who call Narendra Modi the symbol of Gujarat’s pride and identity — India’s best CM and potential prime minister — view Irfan Pathan? If they rate him among India’s best sportsmen, how do they explain their praise of Modi, who has demonstrated that he regards Pathan as nothing but a Muslim? Forget the others; how can Navjot Singh Sidhu, identified with cricket, declare that every Gujarati wants his child to be a Modi? The recent election campaign revealed that Modi’s distorted view of Pathan isn’t unique to him. The MLA who gave the Pathans a cash award was reviled in pamphlets for doing so.

Now Irfan Pathan is off to Australia to play his heart out for his country, and Modi could be back as CM for a third time. Such, indeed, is life.