After 1999, terrorism touched new heights. In addition, the men in Delhi donned saffron, while the men in Islamabad donned fatigues. Cricket ties were suspended for almost half a decade. But then 9/11 happened. 13/12 happened. The saffron tinge got milder and the fatigues expressed a desire to be replaced by salwar-kurtas. India and Pakistan started playing cricket again.

But hello, what on earth was this? Where was the edge? Where was the venom? The change in the nature of the India-Pakistan rivalry was nothing less than a tectonic shift. People on both sides of the border started treating it like just a cricket rivalry rather than a war. It became tame, even threatening to be tamer than the much-hyped-but-actually-tepid-and-wannabe ANZACS rivalry.

I blame Inzamam-ul-Haq!

The guy is just so damn nice. It just isn't possible to hate him. And once the captain is so nice and conciliatory, the team finds it very tough to adopt a belligerent attitude. It's all about the captains and the key players.

Remember, the edge to the rivalry was added by two gentlemen named Imran Khan and Javed Miandad. Imran Khan did it more explicitly, with his born-again-Muslim attitude. He was spewing the word 'jihad' even back in those days when Osama and Saddam were American "friends". He said Pakistani players treat every match against India as jihad. The supremo of the then-ascendant Shiv Sena latched on to this dialogue, and whipped up frenzy. Javed Miandad, with his last-ball six and his pugnacious attitude on field which he proudly displayed on television, was Ayman-Al-Zawahiri to Imran's Osama, in the mind of the Indians. Then there was a battery of pace bowlers, all breathing fire, and crushing Indian toes. The annual Sharjah circus kept sharpening the edge. Expat jingoism is always more expressive. The procession of Pakistani captains in the 90s was made up of followers of Imran, and be it Wasim AKram, Aamir SOhail or Rashid Latif, they all were obviosuly more charged up when the opponent was India.

Then along came 2004. Cricketing ties were restored. India agreed to play a full series in Pakistan, sending a message to other sides which had been cancelling tours post-9/11 that the place is quite safe after all. With a new and more cautious peace-process in place, there was guarded optimism. And of course, Inzy was at the helm.

Inzamam is one of my favourite players of all time. His lazy genius, his unflappable marshalling skills, and the ease with which he changes gears makes him a delight to watch. Plus he is such a nice guy, with an almost child-like innocence. His obvious talent also ensures that his innings don't rankle Indian supporters as much as Javed Mianded who was always more gumption-n-grit than genius. Even his spearhead fast bowler, Shoaib Akhtar, for some reason has never really rattled India in the last few years. His other lieutenants Yousuf and Younis, are also not very demonstrative of a "jihadi" attitude, the way every key player under Imran was. And his best spinner is a Hindu!

Bah! How can one hate this Pakistan team? Which is why their coming from behind and levelling the test series and winning the one-day series last season were not treated like national calamities in India. The Indian fan at Bangalore stood up and applauded Pakistan's amazing comeback. And even today, most Indians find themselves appreciating the way Pakistan is dominating England. Cricket is outselling jingoism.

Where did it all start? Did it start at Chennai in 1999 when the crowd shocked the Pakistanis with a standing ovation? Did it start at Delhi in 1999 when Akram wore as big a smile as Anil Kumble while congratulating him for the 10-wicket prize?

I'm not sure, but the enmity in India-Pakistan cricket is, at best dead, and at worst hibernating.

I blame good ole Inzy!

Gaurav I too miss the passionate encounters of the previous decades. however, i feel you have gone way too far in your first couple of paragraphs..comparing the passionate (or animosity as you put it) india-pakistan matches to germany in the 1930s shows absolutely no respect to the victims of the holocaust. There was absolutely no need for you to bring up some analogy in an article on cricket.

Nicely written !!!

Great Article Gaurav. Two Thumbs up mate. Let the flow keep coming

Gaurav,

I didn't know that you could write humor so well! Keep it up!

excellent piece! cricket lovers of both countries have matured to take it as just cricket..

I agree with your views, and i am a true believer of the fact that Cricket is just another game. We should treat it like any other game. We must remember that their are rivalries among other test nations, like England-Australia, Australia-New Zealad. But these games are played in good conduct. So, why can't we play our cricket like this. I give all the credit to all the players of both Indian and Pakistani teams to make that dream possible.

Yes Gaurav. And you did not even speak of the fitness problems that were surfacing in the batsmen of Indian camp who, after their recent exchanges with the old foes (new friends, rather) led by the big man, started assuming that getting unfit by the day was the surest way of scoring big runs.

cool gaurav.i altogether had something else in my head when i started with ur piece.u took me to a new dimension.thats good writing dude.i agree with ur view.do drop in more like this.

I am glad us Pakistanis and Indians can sit together and watch cricket be played with good spirits and not war like mannerism. I agree with you Gaurav that emotions on both sides have tamed down to a good extent..however i am sure no indian, even under these circumstances can digest losing to pakistan and vice versa! I think the upcomming series between the two countries will be even more pleasurable owing to the fact that Inzy and Rahul..both super nice dudes will be leading their respective teams from the front! Cheers!

Nicely written, humourous.

What I regret is not the death of that over-the-top jingoism that I could taste all along until late 90s. (We Had to do away with that)

I regret that cricket, overall, has become a well-rounded 'proper' sport with athletism, stamina and consistency triumphing over flair, genius, and the occasional lucky break!

Genius has become a quality attributed much more to actual applied, intense, prudent execution rather than the potential to make or break matches single-handedly.

Even rival cricketers find much less to get frustrated at EACH OTHER about! Everyone's so hung up about what "clicked" or "didn't click our way" on a cricket day. No "that bastard Waqar", etc to hold at fault!

Weak-minded cricketers with flourishing magic wands used to have a say in Cricket matches of old - that's not possible anymore. We have thoroughly chiselled sports athletes having all the say these days.

There used to be atleast 3-4 fatties in Intl Cricket when I was a kid... David Boon, Graham Gooch, (latter day) Ian Botham...!

In any case, Ashes 2005 made me rethink all the above impressions, so I don't know...

A good article...I remember the days of my schoold days ( often bunking classes) when we used to wait for those India Pakistan matches with so much anticipation...the rivalry was at its heights in the mid-eighties to mid-nineties- the Imran and Miandad duo were largely responsible. Besides, there were superstars in either team aplenty to make it a script of star wars.

Inzy as you rightly point out is a genius bat. And one continues to be astonished by the fact that the great man is so simple at heart. He may not be a shrewd leader like Imran or a demonstrative street fighter like Javed (perhaps trying to endorse his credentials as a foot soldier of the cricket 'Jihad')...but the quiet man ' Inzy' ( perhaps one of the more religious cricketers...allows his bat to do the talking...he leads from the front.

Nobody can say it better!

I am a regular reader of Vantage Point and as usual, a great post, Gaurav!

I agree that the tension during Indo-Pak matches has toned down a bit - as you pointed out, there is very little of the fatalism associated with the outcomes as was true during the 80-90's. But there is still that unmistakable competitive undercurrent among both supporters that losing to your neighbour means a little more than losing out to any other team.

Here in the US, we (a bunch of desi grad students) used to often play cricket against various teams including one consisting of Pakistanis. There would be a little more determination in all of us during these games even though many of the players on the other side were very good friends of ours (a couple of them eventually even ended up playing for us in future matches !). We would also rib each over the cricketing fortunes of our repestive national teams - all in good fun. This was circa 2000-04.

However, back in back in '96 at the same university, during the WC knockout match at B'lore, the campus security had to be called in to separate the Indian and Pakistani fans (who were literarily at each other's throat) at the Student Union where they were showing the match on a big screen.

Man I want to talk about the disappearance of the fat cricketer. Cricket is the one sport where a few extra pounds could be tolerated. If everyone is a finely tuned athlete i don't think it neccessarily produces better cricket. I remember the time when there were fat footballers with superb skill, but they are dying out, to be replaced with machines who just keep pounding away at each other till one tires out. Let's get some fatties into the game and preserve the element of skill.

Yes.. you are dead right.... I think it all started in chennai in 1999 when pakistani players got a standing ovation.

And the people of Pakistan reciprocated well in 2004 when India toured Pakistan.

This has to be one of the more unusual but apt tributes to Inzi I have come across! I'd like to echo the sentiments already expressed in most of the comments above. Although the manic obsession that was a trademark of the Pakistan-India rivalry in the past isn’t quite at the same levels now (with followers showing a greater ability to respond rationally to a loss to India or Pakistan) the gung ho competitive edge is still as strong as ever. The hospitality off the field will continue when India comes over next year, but they’ll be no be no needless hospitably on the field. Ask the players and they’ll tell, ask the fans and they’ll tell you the same thing, India and Pakistan don’t hate each other anymore, but that doesn’t mean they don’t hate losing to each other! At least I don’t! :)

PS: I second the plea for more healthy (I tend to refrain from using the word ‘fat’) cricketers. Bring back Bobby Key, England! And let’s hope Ranatunga and DeSilve are coming back from retirement! :p

Zainub, sadly these are days when "healthy" means lean.

Its fitting that Pakistan looks beyond the idiosyncracies which we tend to impregnate when we talk about Pakistan Vs India cricket matches.

I congratulate Inzamam for making an impossible series win and a dominant one indeed in a sense that Pakistan could have won the 2nd match also had they played 90 overs each day for 5 days.

Having said that Pakistan team defied all logic and the wildest of imaginations to win 2 test matches in pitches that are hardly subcontinental pitches. So English team at least cant blame the pitches in a sense that these pitches were perfect for batting and hardly helped the spinner.

Playing in India would be a lot harder as those pitches would be tailormade for Indian spinners.

This Pakistan team is the best we have seen in the last decade as no. 6 batting slot will come under fierce competition from accomplished allrounder Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Asim Kamal and not to mention Hasan Raza who still has a point or two to prove.

Inzamam ul Huq needs to credited for his behind the scene efforts to elevate Pakistan to a team it is today as it can look to play future test series having the ultimate goal in becoming the best team in the world. Playing India is not the most exhilarating thing after all as England is a much better team.

Great Article Gaurav, can't stop grinning but have you thought what would become of poor cricket fans like me who still don't know what LBW really is and only watch India vs Pakistan and regard the passion and excitement associated with indo-pak matches higher than the mastery of strokes and swings and whatever...

great article,but yeah in the first two paras, i was really wondering what you were talking about..great humor. yep, i believe the "war" has ended. But the rivalry still exists and probably would never cease to exist. i really used to look forward for an india-pak encouter, but now its becoming too regular, but the good thing is it is nearly impossible to predict the result of any india-pak match. And hell yeah, i blame Inzi :)