More Than a Cricket Match: Pakistan and India Rivalry
On October 24, 2021, one of the most historic sports rivalries in the world took place: the Pakistan and India Cricket Match.
A critical match between Pakistan and India is considered one of the most intense matches mainly because of the rivalry between both nuclear-armed countries. Although they are neighboring countries, they both have claims on Kashmir, which is a disputed territory.
The two sides first played in 1952 when Pakistan toured India. Test and later limited-overs series have been played ever since, although several planned tours by both sides have been canceled or aborted due to political factors. No cricket has been played between the two countries between 1962 and 1977 due to two major wars in 1965 and 1971, and the 1999 Kargil War and the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks have also interrupted cricketing ties between the two nations.
In a recent match, Pakistan defeated India by 10 wickets.
“The recent match took place on Sunday, and for Pakistani fans, it had significant importance in their hearts because Pakistan had hardly won any match in the World Cup against India. This was the first victory against India in the World Cup,” said Ahmed Ali Haral, a Pakistani fan.
Pakistan is also happy to return to the field after the 2009 terror attack in which six members of the Sri Lanka national cricket team were wounded, and six Pakistani policemen and two civilians were killed. Other cricket teams have never toured Pakistan since the terror attack. After a decade, in December 2019, Sri Lanka agreed to play a two-match Test series in Pakistan marked the return of test cricket to Pakistan.
“This win was also important for Pakistani fans because recently, New Zealand and England cricket teams abandoned tours to Pakistan due to so-called security reasons, which disappointed Pakistani cricket fans,” said Ali.
“Although the match is one of the games of the ICC T20 World Cup, people from both countries considered and took it as a final match because of the rivalry,” said Ali.
On the other hand, the Indian police arrested seven Muslims for allegedly celebrating Pakistan’s cricket win over India. Police said they shouted “anti-India and pro-Pakistan” slogans during the match and were charged with “promoting enmity and cyber terrorism.”
The arrests in Agra are the latest in the crackdown against Muslims for allegedly cheering the Pakistani team.
Soon after the game ended, Mohammed Shami, the only Muslim in the Indian cricket team, was viciously trolled and abused online. Social media users accused him of deliberately giving runs to the Pakistani team, while others labeled him a traitor. (BBC)
Soon after the game ended, Mohammed Shami, the only Muslim in the Indian cricket team, was viciously trolled and abused online. Social media users accused him of deliberately giving runs to the Pakistani team, while others labeled him a traitor. (BBC)
Many appreciation for your contributions Ali
