essay on pakistan cricket team

Short essay on Pakistani Cricket Team

Cricket is no less than a religion for the people of Pakistan. It is the sport which creates magical unity in its people and ignites a sense of patriotism which no other sport or event ever can. Although hockey is the national sport of Pakistan, Cricket continues to be the most loved and popular sport. The members of the Pakistan cricket team are seen as heroes by their fans and people love them more than they love any politician or leader.

The Pakistan cricket team has played 364 test matches of which 113 they have won, 152 were drawn while they lost 100 matches. In the One Day International Arena Pakistan has made 760 outings out of which in 411 matches Pakistan has been victorious while in 327 matches they have ended up on the losing side.

The biggest achievement ever for the Pakistan Cricket Team has been the successful World Cup Campaign of 1992 in which Pakistan became the World Champions for the first time in the history of International Cricket. The team led by Imran Khan was able to make an almost impossible come back in the tournament and went all the way through to winning the World Cup. The next major achievement for the Pakistan Cricket team has been in the shorter version of the game T20 cricket. After losing a close final to India in the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007, Pakistan cricket team led by star batsman Younis Khan was able to win the second edition of the tournament in 2009 in which they beat Srilanka in a one sided final.

The Pakistan cricket team has produced legends like Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Javed Miandad, Inzimam-ul-Haq, Shoaib Akhtar and many more. They have served Pakistan Cricket for years and have been able to gain recognition for their achievements throughout the world. Although the Pakistan Cricket Team has produced stars, there has always been some sort of controversies attached to the team since Pakistan’s birth in International cricket. They have been accused from the smallest of sins such as ball tampering to the biggest of crimes like match-fixing. However the most shameful incident for Pakistan Cricket has been the spot fixing controvery of 2010 in which Pakistan’s three star players Salman Butt, Muhammad Asif and Muhammad Amir were exposed by a British newspaper’s sting operation and they were later proven guilty. The severity of the matter was such that all three of them were sentenced to imprisonment in England for varying periods of time.

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Despite the incident the Pakistan Cricket team has shown some character and has been able to overcome the pressure to succeed in the international arena. Pakistan cricket team was able to qualify for the 2011 World Cup Semi Final regardless of the fact that the incident of spot fixing was relatively fresh. 2011 has been a tremendous year for Pakistan Cricket as they have found some stability and consistency under the calm leadership of Misbah ul Haq.

There is no doubt that the Pakistan cricket team has always comprised of a bunch of special and talented players but at the same time they have let themselves down in front of their nation because of matters such as spot fixing. It is time that the team realizes the importance the game holds for the country and try to maintain the integrity of the game and the nation’s pride.

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A Billion Eyes on One of Sports’ Fieriest Rivalries: India vs. Pakistan

The teams’ face-off in the men’s cricket World Cup, which India won handily, was shadowed, as always, by the stormy history between the two countries.

By Mujib Mashal

Reporting from the venue of the match in Ahmedabad, India

It is one of the fiercest rivalries in sports, with hundreds of millions of people tuning in every time the two teams play — a viewership dwarfing that of the Super Bowl. But when India and Pakistan meet on the cricket field, the game is often overshadowed by the icy relations between the two neighbors, which have fought several wars against each other over the last 75 years.

On Saturday, the two sides faced off in the men’s cricket World Cup in India, in a match that India’s team won with a comfortable margin. The match, a league game at Narendra Modi Stadium — capacity 132,000 people — was sold out. Hotel prices in Ahmedabad, the site of the stadium, named for the vigorously nationalist Indian prime minister, were between five and ten times higher than usual.

“It is the most hyped-up game in cricket history,” said Sheharyar Jaffri, a 30-year-old journalist and cricket enthusiast in the Pakistani port city of Karachi. “We live every ball, every run and every moment.”

But there were few Pakistani fans like Mr. Jaffri among the large crowd, even though the stadium is closer to Karachi than it is to New Delhi. It is hard for Pakistanis to get permission to visit India, and Pakistani fans — even those who had purchased tickets — were not issued visas for the World Cup. Only a few Pakistani journalists received travel permission, which did not come until the eve of the match, leaving them scrambling to make it to Ahmedabad in time.

In the months leading up to the tournament, it was not even clear whether Pakistan’s team would attend at all.

India had refused to travel to Pakistan for another tournament late this summer, using its outsize influence on cricket’s international governing body — India is the biggest economic force in the sport — to shift the matches to neutral venues in Sri Lanka. Pakistan, in return, warned that it might pull out of the World Cup in India, a threat it ultimately dropped.

Cricketing ties between India and Pakistan have fluctuated along with relations between the two countries since Pakistan was carved out of India in the bloody British partition of 1947. At times, India-Pakistan games, which draw equal passion on both sides of the border, have been used to break the ice when tensions have run particularly high, providing an important space for exchange.

When the two nations first met on a cricket field in the early 1950s, partition was clear in the teams’ makeup: Pakistan’s squad included players who just years earlier had played for India.

For many years, relations were patched up enough in between wars that India and Pakistan even co-hosted the World Cup in 1987 and 1996.

The latest tensions largely date back to 2008, when Pakistani militants crossed into India on fishing boats and launched a gruesome terrorist attack in Mumbai, killing more than 160 people.

Bilateral cricketing ties have remained largely suspended since, with Pakistani players barred from the lucrative Indian Premier League, which features the world’s best players. In the 15 years after the attack, the national teams have played each other only as part of larger global events. The match on Saturday will be Pakistan’s first in India in seven years.

India’s sports minister, Anurag Thakur, recently reiterated that despite Pakistan’s participation in this World Cup, New Delhi’s stance on resuming cricketing ties will not change “until they stop terrorism.”

In recent years, however, India’s security calculations have changed significantly. Pakistan, lost in its own political dysfunction and economic crisis, is seen as posing little significant threat. New Delhi now views China as its predominant border concern, with the armies of the two countries locked in a standoff high in the Himalayas for the past three years.

Kashmir, the restive region disputed between India and Pakistan, still erupts sporadically into violence. Despite an Indian government crackdown that has suspended democracy there for four years and added to the already heavy military presence, militants who find support and training in Pakistan continue to launch occasional ambushes.

Increased political polarization on both sides of the border has also not helped the countries’ relations.

For Mr. Modi’s Hindu nationalist base, Pakistan remains an easy populist rallying cry, even if China now poses the greater threat. Dozens of people in India have faced prosecution over expressions of support for the Pakistani team. After four Indian soldiers were killed in an attack in Kashmir last month, many in Mr. Modi’s right-wing support base called for boycotting the Pakistani team.

The backlash intensified and drew in some opposition politicians after the Pakistani team was given a welcome similar to what other teams received, with a traditional dance and other festivities in their Ahmedabad hotel.

In Pakistan, which is in the grip of an Islamist militancy, expressions of support for the other side have also resulted in court cases and imprisonment.

Shahid Afridi, a former Pakistani star, faced a treason case after telling an Indian audience during a tour that he had “not got this much love even from Pakistan.” A Pakistani tailor in the country’s state of Punjab ended up in jail for raising an Indian flag, which he said he had done because was an avid fan of the India cricket star Virat Kohli.

Relations between players, however, have often been warm. Players from earlier generations often spoke of deep bonds of friendship, sharing fond memories of hospitality and late-night hotel room pranks during times when they could travel to each other’s countries more frequently.

The same is true when the two nations’ women’s teams have played each other. A selfie taken by the Indian captain, Harmanpreet Kaur , of her players posing with the Pakistani captain, Bismah Maroof, and Ms. Maroof’s baby daughter after a match last year went viral .

The Indian authorities deployed 11,000 police officers and guards around the stadium in Ahmedabad as a security precaution, even with fans of only one of the two heated rivals filling the stadium.

Among them were three generations of the Sadasivan family, who took an early-morning flight from New Delhi on Saturday.

Raghav, 7, wore the Indian team’s blue jersey, tucked into his white cricket pants that showed the dirt marks of practice. As the family waited to board their flight, Raghav was busy shadow-batting with the rolled-up sign that he was going to finish painting on the flight.

“BE FRIENDS,” read his sign, which also had the flags of India and Pakistan drawn on it.

In the end, the Indian team gave its fans plenty to celebrate, continuing its dominating run over the Pakistani side in World Cup face-offs. The crowd jumped and roared at every shot by the Indian batters. The occasional moments of success from the Pakistani players sometimes received subdued applause, but mostly were met by full-house silence.

On at least one occasion, a portion of the crowd tried to overwhelm a Pakistani batter returning to the dugout by shouting at him a Hindu religious chant often taken up as a battle cry by hard line elements.

Aasif Syed, one of only two Pakistani fans in a green jersey in what was otherwise a sea of blue in one section of the stands, had flown from Houston, Texas, on an American passport.

This was his first time in India, so his Indian friends hosting him in New Delhi had arranged a rare opportunity for him: to visit relatives — his grandmother’s cousins — whom he had never met before.

Mr. Syed said his grandparents lived just outside Delhi before the partition, and had been forced to move to what became Pakistan.

“I walked the streets,” he said. “I tracked down my roots, and found the house they lived in.”

Zia ur-Rehman contributed reporting from Karachi, Pakistan.

Mujib Mashal is The Times’s bureau chief for South Asia. Born in Kabul, he wrote for magazines including The Atlantic, Harper’s and Time before joining The Times. More about Mujib Mashal

The independent voice of cricket

Cricket’s return to Pakistan: A timeline since 2009

It’s a decade since Test cricket was last played in Pakistan, with international cricket returning there only intermittently in the intervening period. Aadya Sharma takes a look at what top-level cricket has been played in the country since the start of 2010.

A country packed with cricket-fanatic fans was pushed into a sustained period of uncertainty when a terrorist attack forced international cricket out of Pakistan. Ten years later, top-flight cricketers are slowly trickling back in, but there is still some way to go before international cricket is completely reinstated in the country.

“The courtesy, the generosity, the hospitality, the warmth, the love of cricket is plainly obvious for anyone to see.” Last week, Warren Deutrom, CEO of Cricket Ireland, was at the Gaddafi Stadium in Pakistan, witnessing the Sri Lankan team’s visit to the country. Speaking to PCB Podcast later, he promised that Ireland would do their part in international cricket’s reintegration into Pakistan.

The last time Pakistan hosted a Test was in 2009. Their current captain, Sarfaraz Ahmed, hadn’t even debuted in Test cricket by then. For the last decade, Pakistan have been primarily playing their ‘home’ games in the UAE.

It was in 2009 that a horrific attack on the Sri Lankan team bus outside the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, forced the suspension of international cricket in the country. It halted operations on a flourishing game that has a huge following, cutting players from the country and its fans, and cutting cricket from a nation brimming with zealous followers of the game.

It started a long-drawn period of isolation for cricket in Pakistan, an untenable situation that only gradually started resolving by the second half of this decade.

Years later, top teams are slowly inching their way back into the country – the latest being Sri Lanka – as Pakistan continues to try and push past the events of 2009.

May 2015 – Zimbabwe: The cautious first steps

Pakistan and Zimbabwe teams ahead of the final ODI of their three-game series in 2015

Six years after the 2009 incident, Zimbabwe became the harbingers of international cricket’s return when they agreed to a limited-overs tour of the country. They became the first Full Member to play in the country since 2009. Afghanistan and Kenya had also travelled in 2013 and 2014, but those tours weren’t awarded international status.

The series might have been lopsided – Zimbabwe failed to win a single game, losing both the ODIs and T20Is 2-0 – but it did its part in breaking the limbo with captain Misbah-ul-Haq calling it a “a big joy for all of Pakistan cricket fans.”

“We are so grateful to the Zimbabwe cricket board for sending their team and for trusting us,” Subhan Ahmed, COO of PCB had said then.

However, while a bomb blast outside the Gadaffi Stadium during the second ODI didn’t curtail the tour, it did demonstrate how far there was to go before normal service could be resumed.

September 2015 – Bangladesh Women: Mutual benefit

Not long after men’s cricket returned to Pakistan, women’s cricket did too, with Bangladesh playing two T20Is and two ODIs in Karachi – Zimbabwe’s games had all been in Lahore.

The tour went smoothly and was competitive too, with the tourists coming within 20 runs of winning the first ODI. Bangladesh skipper Salma Khatun was at pains before the tour to stress that her side hadn’t been pressured into travelling.

“We are going according to our wishes,” she said. “We will be given the highest level of security. We are going there to play cricket, so we are not concerned about what is happening anywhere else in the country. We wanted to tour any country to play cricket, since we haven’t played any matches since the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon. There is no fear among us. We know that there won’t be any trouble in the area where we will be playing.”

March 2017 – PSL final: The gamble that paid off

While not an international match, the 2017 Pakistan Super League final was undoubtedly the biggest game played in Pakistan since 2009, and the biggest gamble too. An increase in terrorist attacks led FICA, the international players’ union, to strongly advise against all travel. “An acceptable level of participant safety and security cannot be expected or guaranteed,” read a statement.

The stakes were high. “If something inimical happened on the final day then it will prove to be the end of international cricket in Pakistan,” said now-prime minister Imran Khan, and several players, including Kevin Pietersen, Luke Wright, and Tymal Mills, refused to travel.

Those who did remained wary, but when they took the field realised the rewards of playing in the country. “It was as good an atmosphere as I’ve ever been involved in,” said Dawid Malan, who did travel, as did compatriot Chris Jordan, and West Indians Daren Sammy and Marlon Samuels. “It’s a massive stadium, the middle is quite a long way from the stands, and when they were doing the Mexican wave I was just standing there and thinking, ‘Wow, this is as loud as I’ve heard’.

“It was the first time I’ve stood on the boundary and heard the crowd chanting my name. You could see how much it meant to the people of Pakistan. Even with the security fears, to turn up and still be in such good spirits and create that atmosphere… as a player, it was fantastic.”

“I am glad I came to experience the atmosphere here [in Lahore],” Sammy later said. “Even though Peshawar came out on top, cricket was the real winner in Lahore.”

May 2017 – World XI: the statement

Pakistani cricketers pose for a photograph with trophy after winning the third and final match against World XI

The symbolism could hardly have been made more clear: Pakistan was once again open to the world. A T20 match-up between that year’s Champions Trophy winners and an assortment of global stars from the rest of the world further bolstered Pakistan’s credentials as an international venue. Captained by Faf du Plessis, a World XI side played the home side in a three-match T20I series, which they lost 2-1.

The ICC accorded the series full international status, speeding the return of top-flight cricket in the country.

“A lot of courage was needed on the other side to put it all together,” Najam Sethi, Chairman of PCB had said then. “We are very, very happy to host the World XI and we know this is a small step in many ways but a huge leap for Pakistan.”

October 2017 – Sri Lanka: The return

Eight years after the Lahore attack, Sri Lanka made their way back into Pakistan, albeit only for a solitary match. It was the final match of their three-match series, with the previous games, as well as the ODI leg, having being played in UAE.

There was scepticism still, given that a chunk of players decided not to travel to Pakistan, but Thisara Perera, named captain for the game, supported the move wholeheartedly.

“It’s nice to be in Pakistan again,” said Perera, who was also part of the ICC World XI, had said. “We are thankful for a warm welcome and will do our best to entertain the crowd with some good cricket.”

March 2018 – PSL final

Having hosted the PSL final in Lahore in 2017, the PCB pushed for a greater chunk of the tournament to be played in Pakistan, but had to settle for another standalone showpiece. That tickets for the final sold out in three hours demonstrated that cricket’s absence had only made Pakistani hearts grow fonder. The game, held in Karachi, saw elaborate security arrangements in place, with as many as 8500 security personnel employed for the Islamabad United-Peshawar Zalmi clash, which United won.

April 2018 – West Indies

Pakistani spectators hold placards at the National Cricket Stadium before the final West Indies-Pakistan game

West Indies became the third Test playing team to visit Pakistan this decade, when they decided to tour the country for a short T20I series. Big names decided to step away once again, including the likes of Chris Gayle, Carlos Brathwaite and Jason Holder, but the show went on.

Pakistan completed a comprehensive sweep of the three-match series, winning each of the games with appreciable margins. And while there were questions asked about the strength of the West Indies team that visited, captain Sarfaraz Ahmed stood right behind his team and the crowd.

“We played better cricket and credit must be given to our side. It would be wrong to say that a ‘B side’,” he later said. “I don’t think teams have any excuses left for not coming to Pakistan anymore.”

February 2019 – West Indies Women: The minor classic

A tied three-match series, featuring a tied second game, represented the most closely-fought encounter in Pakistan for a decade. Featuring Pakistan Women’s 100th T20I, and Sana Mir’s 100th cap too, it was a proud moment for a proud country.

March 2019 – The PSL final stages: A greater slice of the action

The holding of nine games in Pakistan, even in the wake of heightened military tensions with India, represented an important step towards the stated aim of holding the entire Pakistan Super League in Pakistan. The closing of Lahore’s commercial airspace put paid to hopes of holding matches outside Karachi.

October 2019 – Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka returned yet again, this time for both ODIs and T20Is. The two sides were supposed to play Test cricket as well, in accordance with the World Test Championship, but the absence of big Sri Lankan names, who decided to give the series a miss, forced the boards to agree on a limited-overs only affair.

It wasn’t the first XI Sri Lanka would have hoped for, but they still managed to clinch a historic T20I series win in the country, after having been pipped in the ODI format. The arrangements got a further thumbs up from Sri Lanka’s interim coach Rumesh Ratnayake, who termed it as a message for other teams to engage in international cricket with Pakistan.

“To experience the hospitality of Pakistan is a great thing,” Ratnayake said last week. “I’ve experienced it after a long, long time, and if anything, it’s got even better. It was a lot of hard work for the whole system to have us here.

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Pakistan cricket team

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Pakistan T20 World Cup Squad SWOT Analysis: Babar Azam's Team Aims To End Second-Round Woes

A nother T20 World Cup, another hope for Pakistan cricket. While Pakistan haven't made it to the second round of any of the past three ODI World Cups, they came close to winning the T20 World Cup in 2021 and 2022. In 2021, the Babar Azam-led side made it to the semi-final, where the Men in Green lost to Australia.

In 2022, Pakistan moved another step closer and played the final against England. An injury to Shaheen Afridi during the final scuppered Pakistan's chances and they suffered a defeat against the Jos Buttler-led England.

With Babar Azam back as captain, all eyes will be on him and the 2009 T20 World Cup Champions going into the 10th edition of the tournament. Pakistan will kick off their T20 WC campaign against the USA on June 6.

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Mohammad Amir, Imad Wasim Included As Pakistan Name 15-Man Squad For T20 World Cup 2024

They will face India on June 9. The Men in Green will be up against Canada and Ireland in their next two matches on June 11 and 16, respectively. Before the start of Pakistan's T20 World Cup campaign, here we analyse their squad and have a look at their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats -

The unpredictability factor is one of the biggest strengths of Pakistan. Any player can do wonders for Pakistan on any given day and do the unthinkable by winning a match single-handedly.

Pakistan's fierce pace-bowling department is one of the best and the opposition team could even struggle to play complete 20 overs against the likes of Mohammad Amir, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf. Afridi has the knack of taking early wickets and this could trouble any team. Amir can also get early wickets and topple any batting lineup.

Jos Buttler Creates History In 2nd T20I Against Pakistan, Becomes First England Batter To...

Babar Azam's and Mohammad Rizwan's below-par strike-rates are the two biggest weaknesses of Pakistan. The duo has failed to increase their strike rate despite regular criticism and this can cost Pakistan big time. Babar has a strike rate of 129.91 in T20Is while Rizwan has struck at 128.07.

The backstage drama could also prove to be a weakness for Pakistan. Shaheen was sacked from captaincy after just one series and he reportedly refused to become the vice-captain. The players will have to stay away from these backstage issues to excel on the field.

Opportunities

The T20 World Cup is an opportunity for Mohammad Amir and Imad Wasim to complete the task for which they have returned. The duo came out of retirement to play the T20 World Cup. It will be interesting to see if they continue to play international cricket after the ICC event or not.

Pakistan's unpredictability can also prove to be a threat to them. They have lost to minnows in past and recently suffered a defeat against Ireland too. Not to forget, Pakistan suffered a one-run defeat against Zimbabwe in the league stage of the 2022 T20 World Cup. Pakistan will have to make sure that they do not fumble on the big stage and avoid any upset.

Pakistan's squad for 2024 T20 World Cup: Babar Azam (Captain), Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan

South Africa

Match yet to begin

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Hampshire won by 3 wickets (with 1 ball remaining)

Yorkshire won by 29 runs

Surrey won by 57 runs

The Blaze won by 7 wickets (with 26 balls remaining)

SE Stars won by 6 wickets (with 11 balls remaining)

Sunrisers won by 4 wickets (with 0 balls remaining)

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Five key takeaways from cricket’s Pakistan Super League 2024

From Azam’s and Rizwan’s scoring sprees to smoking up the dressing room, here are some key storylines from PSL 9.

The Pakistan Super League’s (PSL’s) ninth season ended with Islamabad United winning a record third title , Multan Sultans losing their third final in a row and the result being decided on the last ball of the tournament.

On the field, there was plenty of action: 205 sixes and 476 fours, the 200-run mark was crossed 10 times and four unbeaten centuries were scored.

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Here are five talking points from the recently concluded T20 tournament in Pakistan:

Lack of big international names

The PSL once touted itself as the second biggest T20 league in the world after the Indian Premier League (IPL). The likes of Shane Watson, Colin Ingram, Darren Sammy, Kevin Pietersen and Chris Gayle were once part of the league.

In the 2024 event, PSL organizers scheduled the league to overlap with two other competitions playing at the same time, and the PSL final was played just four days before the IPL tournament gets under way.

That, coupled with more money on offer elsewhere as well as restrictions on international player movements by their own governing associations, all added up to the league attracting lesser stars to the event than in the past.

Saim Ayub’s coming-out party

Saim Ayub had already made his Pakistan international cricket debut, but judging by his performance in the PSL, he is surely ready to add to his solitary Test and 12 T20 international appearances.

The left-hander was declared tournament all-rounder after scoring 345 runs at a scintillating strike rate of 158 and picking up eight wickets with his off-spin, which sometimes included opening the bowling.

Ayub’s timing, no-look flicks, energy in the field and aggression up the top order could play a key role in improving Pakistan’s performance at the T20 World Cup in June.

Azam and Rizwan put on a show

A noticeable absence of the best international players did not really stop the domestic superstars from performing.

At the top of the order and the scoring charts were two familiar names – Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan.

Azam topped the charts at PSL 9 with 569 runs, including an unbeaten century and five fifties amid the omnipresent concerns over his strike rate.

Rizwan finished third with 407 runs, hitting four fifties and registering an impressive strike rate of 122.

Azam’s Peshawar Zalmi was knocked out in the second eliminator while Rizwan’s Multan Sultans were edged out in the final.

Does Karachi still love cricket?

The PSL final in Karachi was a packed affair, dismissing all doubts over the city’s love for cricket — albeit temporarily.

While getting to and inside the stadium remains a tedious task, one that many fans abandoned after one attempt, those who made it through with luck, patience and a blind eye to the poor organization were treated to a thriller.

I wouldn’t wish it upon my worst enemy to watch a game at NSK. Even animals aren’t treated like this. It’s shocking and embarrassing that this is the state of an international sports stadium that will potentially host the Champions Trophy in less than a year. A thread: pic.twitter.com/YlcCR0IZAz — Ali Asad (@aliasad1998) March 18, 2024

Before the PSL final, there were more empty seats than filled ones at the National Bank Stadium, leading to fears that the title decider – scheduled for a Monday night – would see a small crowd leading to embarrassment for the organizers. Thankfully for them, the crowd put it on their calendars, and they turned up in large numbers.

Something very Khi about not turning up for weekend play off games but full housing a Monday night final, love it — Osman Samiuddin (@OsmanSamiuddin) March 18, 2024

Cigarette-gate

And finally, in a highly unusual occurrence in world sport these days, Islamabad United captain Imad Wasim created a media frenzy when he was spotted smoking in the dressing room after what would turn out to be a match-winning, five-wicket bowling performance.

Unaware he was being broadcast on live TV, Wasim was seen taking a puff inside the dressing room before eventually returning to the field with the bat to record an unbeaten 19, ensuring Islamabad’s title-winning charge stayed on track.

Of course, by that time, countless cigarette memes featuring Wasim had already flooded social media.

South Asia Brief: How Cricket Is Easing India-Pakistan Tensions

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How Cricket Is Easing India-Pakistan Tensions

Pakistani cricketers arrive in india for the first time in seven years—but they almost didn’t make it..

• Foreign & Public Diplomacy
• Michael Kugelman

Welcome to  Foreign Policy ’s South Asia Brief.

The highlights this week: The Pakistani cricket team visits India in a rare bilateral achievement, a terrorist attack in Baluchistan with troubling implications, a pro-China candidate wins the Maldives election , and more.

Sign up to receive South Asia Brief in your inbox every Wednesday.

Cricket Comity Offers a Respite From India-Pakistan Tensions

Last Wednesday, Pakistan’s national cricket team arrived in India for the 2023 Cricket World Cup, which is hosted by India this year and runs from Thursday through Nov. 19. The Pakistanis received a warm welcome , with a cheering crowd massing outside the Hyderabad airport. It’s the first time in seven years that Pakistani cricketers have set foot on Indian soil. They play India on Oct. 14 in Ahmedabad.

These developments are quite remarkable, given how tense relations are between India and Pakistan—and given that the Pakistani team nearly didn’t make it to India.

Visas were issued to the Pakistanis just hours before they traveled to India. Neither the International Cricket Council, to which the Pakistan Cricket Board appealed for assistance, nor Indian officials gave explanations for the delay. It was likely intense screening: Three Indian ministries had to approve the visas. Incidentally, there were also cricket tensions in September: India’s cricket team declined to visit Pakistan last month for the Asia Cup tournament, even though Pakistan was host. An arrangement was worked out for India to play in Sri Lanka instead.

India-Pakistan relations, fragile even in the best of times, have been especially strained since 2019. That year, in February, Jaish-e-Mohammed, a Pakistan-based terror group, attacked an Indian paramilitary convoy in India-administered Kashmir, killing 44 security personnel and prompting retaliatory Indian airstrikes in Pakistan. Then, that August, New Delhi revoked the autonomy of India-administered Kashmir, a move bitterly rejected by Islamabad.

A 2021 cease-fire along the Line of Control reduced cross-border violence and eased tensions a bit. Today, with both sides badly wanting to focus on other matters—in Pakistan’s case, a worsening economy, and in India’s case, an increasing challenge from China along its northern border—neither has an interest in fresh escalations. In March 2022, an Indian missile flew 77 miles into Pakistan—a technical malfunction from routine maintenance, insisted New Delhi. Tellingly, Pakistan reacted with restraint, condemning the incident but moving on. It was an indication that Islamabad had no interest in picking a new fight.

And yet, while India and Pakistan have a strategic interest in relations not getting worse, they arguably have a political interest in relations not getting better. Both countries have elections next year, and neither government has an incentive to extend an olive branch. This is especially true for New Delhi; Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi sailed to reelection in 2019 after using the military crisis with Pakistan earlier that year to bash Islamabad on the campaign trail.

Furthermore, each side still insists on preconditions for formal dialogue that won’t be met anytime soon. Islamabad insists New Delhi must change its policies in Kashmir, including reversing the decision to revoke Kashmir’s autonomy. India won’t do so. New Delhi demands Islamabad do more to crack down on India-focused terrorists on its soil. Islamabad contends there is no such threat, a claim rejected by New Delhi.

People-to-people ties have become a casualty of these tensions over the last four years. Many times in the more distant past, even when relations were tense, there was limited trade and joint civil society initiatives, including journalist exchanges . There is much less of that today. Even during the pandemic and after Pakistan’s catastrophic 2022 floods, the two sides refused to reopen border trade to ease humanitarian distress.

This is why the Pakistani cricket team’s visit to India marks a rare bilateral achievement. But its visa troubles and some Indians’ opposition to the visit underscore the difficulties of producing even modest forms of trust-building.

Meanwhile, reminders about the relationship’s fragilities are never far away. On Friday, terrorists attacked a religious procession in Pakistan’s Baluchistan province, killing at least 59 . Pakistan’s interim interior minister accused Indian intelligence of involvement. Islamabad often accuses India of complicity in terrorism in Pakistan, though less so in recent months, perhaps in an effort to avoid inflaming tensions. But Canada’s recent allegations of Indian involvement in the killing of a Sikh separatist may have emboldened Islamabad—which typically doesn’t get much sympathy from the West for its own allegations against India—to change course.

Islamabad’s accusation will do nothing to lower the temperature in a relationship that will remain fraught, despite some welcome cricket comity.

What We’re Following

A Pakistani terror attack with troubling implications. The attack in Baluchistan on Friday stands out in ways that go beyond its large death toll. The perpetrators targeted people participating in a procession to mark the birthdate of the Prophet Mohammed. For several decades, terrorists have targeted religious sites and activities in Pakistan. However, over the last two years, since the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan brought spikes in attacks in Pakistan carried out by the Afghanistan-based Pakistani Taliban (TTP), most terrorist assaults in the country have targeted police and soldiers. But the Friday blast reflects a new trend of assailants targeting civilians; civilian casualties in terrorist attacks doubled between August and September.

Additionally, no one took responsibility for Friday’s blast. The two main perpetrators of terrorism in Pakistan—the TTP, which claims it doesn’t target civilians, and the Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K)—typically take credit for attacks soon after they happen. The lack of a claim this time around will heighten Pakistanis’ unease about a resurging terrorist threat, and it will give more credence to those—including the Pakistani government—that maintain India was involved in the attack. Of course, the TTP could have carried it out and preferred not to take public credit for an attack on civilians. But the IS-K, which rejects religious celebrations like Friday’s, is the most likely perpetrator.

Pro-China candidate wins Maldives election. Opposition candidate Mohamed Muizzu won the presidential election in the Maldives, emerging with 54 percent of the vote, according to the country’s electoral commission. The victory of Muizzu, who wants deeper ties with China, means the Maldives will continue a pattern seen over the last 15 years: successive presidents taking contrasting positions on India-China competition. Election loser and current President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih strengthened ties with New Delhi, while his predecessor, Abdulla Yameen, did the same with Beijing. Yameen’s predecessor, Mohamed Nasheed, embraced New Delhi.

Muizzu poses a considerable challenge for New Delhi. Not only does he call for better relations with Beijing, but he has also taken a confrontational position toward New Delhi. His “India out” campaign vows to expel the Indian military presence from the Maldives. There are about 75 Indian troops in the country. Their mission, according to India , is to maintain and operate two helicopters and an airplane gifted to the Maldives.

In reality, though, Muizzu is unlikely to pursue a policy that alienates New Delhi. India is an important trade partner relative to China: The value of India’s imports from the Maldives is about 12 times the value of China’s. India has also provided Malé with $500 million in assistance for a large connectivity project now under development. New Delhi will hope that Muizzu’s “India out” policy was more a political gambit meant to get votes than a policy intention. The example of Yameen might be instructive. Yameen, a Muizzu political ally who launched the campaign last year before being jailed on corruption charges, took a less confrontational position toward New Delhi when he was president than the “India out” campaign may suggest.

Afghan Embassy shuttered in New Delhi. Last weekend, the Afghan Embassy in New Delhi, which has been led by officials loyal to the Afghan government removed by the Taliban in 2021, issued a statement saying that the embassy would close effective Oct. 1 because of a lack of support from India. The embassy said the Indian government will take control of the facility in a caretaker capacity.

This incident is a window into the strikingly pragmatic position that New Delhi has taken toward the Taliban since they seized power. During the non-Taliban era, India was one of Afghanistan’s closest partners and provided large amounts of development and economic assistance to the Hamid Karzai and Ashraf Ghani administrations. It took a confrontational stance toward the Taliban, which were allied with Pakistan during the years of the U.S.-led war and maintained friendly relations with India-focused terror groups.

However, over the last two years, Indian officials have held several meetings with Taliban leaders , and in June 2022 New Delhi reopened its embassy in Kabul, though it hasn’t formally recognized the Taliban administration. Against this backdrop, it’s unsurprising that the Indian government would not go out of its way to embrace the non-Taliban Afghans running the embassy. In private conversations, Indian officials say they’re still figuring out what their policy toward Taliban-led Afghanistan will be. But it’s clear they’ve decided, at the least, to avoid open contention.

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Under the Radar

Last week, Nepal’s prime minister, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, known as “Prachanda,” made a weeklong visit to China. He traveled there directly from New York, where he had attended the U.N. General Assembly meetings. Prachanda met with both the Chinese premier and president, with infrastructure and connectivity key topics of discussion. Kathmandu and Beijing agreed to accelerate cooperation on China’s Belt and Road Initiative, and a joint statement spoke of collaborations on projects ranging from expanded air travel to cross-border power transmission lines.

The timing of the trip is notable. It comes just weeks after Nepal formally implemented an infrastructure grant from the Millennium Challenge Corporation, which U.S. officials have publicly described as part of the U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy. Nepal’s fears of getting dragged into India-China competition were in part behind its parliament’s delay in ratification of the grant for several years. But with Kathmandu now having formally signed on, Prachanda will want to reassure Beijing that it’s not drifting too close to Washington and reassert Nepal’s nonaligned, neutral position toward India-China competition. Also, Prachanda’s eight-day stay—a long working visit abroad for a head of government—sends a strong message about Kathmandu’s commitment to its relationship with Beijing, which was designated as a strategic partnership in 2019.

Regional Voices

A Daily Star editorial discusses a new Transparency International Bangladesh report that finds Bangladesh’s Parliament spent more time on “self-praise” than on debating and formulating laws: “It is distressing to see the widening gulf between what people expect from parliament and what our parliamentarians actually deliver.”

Former Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi laments in Dawn that Pakistan’s caretaker government, which is meant to be apolitical, is getting too caught up in politics: “Ministers should steer clear of commenting on political issues, pontificating on foreign policy and desist from seeking pointless publicity all the time.”

Researcher Pratyoush Onta writes in the Kathmandu Post on whether English should be the required language for university exams in Nepal: “Students should have the freedom to write their exams and theses in the language in which they are most proficient, especially if that language is going to be their first working language when they … seek professional jobs.”

Michael Kugelman is the writer of Foreign Policy ’s weekly South Asia Brief. He is the director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center in Washington. Twitter:  @michaelkugelman

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T20 World Cup 2024: USA kick off tournament and look to spring surprise in group featuring India and Pakistan

India, Pakistan, Ireland, co-hosts USA and Canada make up Group A at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, a tournament live on Sky Sports from June 1-29 ; here we profile the five sides - and the oldest international fixture in cricket history

Friday 31 May 2024 07:32, UK

India, Pakistan, Ireland, co-hosts USA and Canada line up in Group A of the 2024 Men's T20 World Cup, which is live in full on Sky Sports between June 1-29. Here's all you need to know about the teams and their prospects.

Best result: Winners (2007) 2022 result: Semi-finalists Coach: Rahul Dravid

Squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj. Reserves: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Avesh Khan.

Yashavi Jaiswal . Arguably could be one of about six or seven in this squad but having put England's bowlers to the sword in the Test series on home soil earlier this year, Jaiswal's stock in the short form of the game continues to rise and he could well be a devastating presence at the top of the order alongside Rohit Sharma.

Wicket-taker

Jasprit Bumrah . India's man for all seasons and all formats. Pitches will hopefully aid his skilful mastery of swing and seam as well as his knack of producing devastating yorkers at key moments.

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Rishabh Pant . Back in his country's colours for the first time since his near-fatal car accident in December 2022 and alongside Sanju Samson, is expected to share wicketkeeping duties. Not only will he be handy with the gloves, he can also turn a game in the blink of an eye with his clean ball-striking and improvisation.

How India have only won this competition once, the inaugural edition in South Africa in 2007, is something that catches you by surprise.

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Roared by an expected prominent ex-pat community in New York, their group games against Ireland, Pakistan and then USA should be a spectacle both on and off the pitch before they venture down to Florida to face Canada.

Once into the latter stages, they should be among the favourites, but the same was being said two years ago before they came up against a comprehensive England performance in the semi-final.

Best result: Winners (2009) 2022 result: Runners-up Coach: Gary Kirsten

Squad: Babar Azam (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Usman Khan.

Mohammad Rizwan. Powerful hitting and fast-scoring opener who alongside skipper Babar Azam, is likely to be looked on as a linchpin of the top order. Handy with the gloves, too, if asked to keep and a constant voice heard through the stump mic to rally the side.

Shaheen Shah Afridi. Batters watch your toes for the crushing inswinging yorkers. Has a habit of taking wickets in the powerplay or in the death overs when his side need an impact.

Keep an eye on...

Babar Azam returning as captain. He previously stepped down as leader in all formats after Pakistan failed to reach the semi-finals of the 50-over World Cup last year, but after more changes at board level, he resumed the T20 role from Shaheen Shah Afridi.

Mohammad Amir and Imad Wasim have also been coaxed out of retirement for this tournament as they bid to discover a formula to help them go one better than two years ago.

Three times finalists, but only once victorious for Pakistan in this competition, back on a sun-kissed June afternoon at Lord's in 2009.

Had a few more things fallen their way in the final last time out, it could easily have been them instead of England lifting the trophy at the MCG, such are the fine margins of the short-form game.

The two 2022 finalists have sized each other up on UK shores before flying across the Atlantic to begin this competition where Gary Kirsten takes charge of his first major assignment as white ball coach.

The former South Africa opener will also come up against one of his ex-employers when they take on India in New York, where the age-old rivalry will be played out in a new and somewhat unique setting.

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Best result: Tournament debut 2022 result: N/A Coach: Pubudu Dassanayake

Squad: Saad Bin Zafar (captain), Aaron Johnson, Dilon Heyliger, Dilpreet Bajwa, Harsh Thaker, Jeremy Gordon, Junaid Siddiqui, Kaleem Sana, Kanwarpal Tathgur, Navneet Dhaliwal, Nicholas Kirton, Pargat Singh, Ravinderpal Singh, Rayyankhan Pathan, Shreyas Movva. Reserves: Tajinder Singh, Aaditya Varadharajan, Ammar Khalid, Jatinder Matharu, Parveen Kumar.

Aaron Johnson . A Jamaican-born top-order batter who has a career strike-rate pushing 170. "He really smashes it down the ground," broadcaster Andrew Leonard told the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast . Johnson struck a 40-ball 74 in a losing cause against USA back in April in Houston and has two centuries in the format.

Kaleem Sana . The left-arm seamer will likely take the new ball and has the very respectable average of 12.48 in his T20I career so far. A former Pakistan under-19 international who represented them in the World Cup back in 2010.

The latest edition of the oldest international fixture in cricket history in the tournament opener in Dallas on June 1.

Canada first faced USA in September 1844 in a three-day game played at St George's Club ground, which today is the junction of 30th Street and Broadway in Manhattan.

Canada emerged victorious by 23 runs on that occasion and no doubt they would settle for a similar result nearly 180 years later!

Canada won the ICC Americas qualification section to reach their first T20 World Cup, but they are no strangers to ICC events, previously playing in four ODI World Cups, most recently in India in 2011.

Aside from their tournament opener against USA which they will be targeting as a winnable fixture, they will hope fortunes allow them to repeat a four-run win over next opponents Ireland four years ago.

Best result: Tournament debut 2022 result: N/A Coach: Stuart Law

Squad: Monank Patel (captain), Aaron Jones, Steven Taylor, Corey Anderson, Saurabh Netravalkar, Jessy Singh, Harmeet Singh, Nosthush Kenjige, Shadley Van Schalkwyk, Nitish Kumar, Andries Gous, Shayan Jahangir, Ali Khan, Nisarg Patel, Milind Kumar. Reserves: Gajanand Singh, Juanoy Drysdale, Yasir Mohammad.

Corey Anderson

The former New Zealand all-rounder has switched allegiance after emigrating to the USA at the start of Major League Cricket and can still pack a punch with his lusty left-handed power hitting.

Anderson, now 33, played in the 2015 World Cup final for the Black Caps and once held the record for the fastest century in ODIs off 36 balls.

Ali Khan . A right-arm quick bowler who has plied his trade in recent years in the Caribbean Premier League, Emirates T20 and the Pakistan Super League. But having recovered from a hamstring tear, this will be his first international T20 outing since 2022.

Caught the eye with a career-best 3-25 in their series-clinching win over Bangladesh earlier this month.

How the co-hosts will be received by the "home" crowds in New York, Dallas and Lauderhill in Florida.

USA Cricket has been through a series of turbulent changes in administration and financial management in recent years. But after the launch of Major League Cricket in Dallas and North Carolina last year, there appears to now be a sustainable plan for tapping into the British and south Asian ex-pat communities across the country to try and grow the game.

Hard to know beyond the tournament-opener against fellow associate nation Canada in Dallas.

USA recently beat their old enemy 4-0 in a five-match T20I series in April so the omens would point to more success against their neighbours. But perhaps the more significant on the eve of the tournament have been two wins against Bangladesh.

A five-wicket win was quickly followed by a six-run series-clinching victory in Texas earlier this month, just their second and third T20I victories against a full member nation after beating Ireland in 2021.

Former Australia batter and county cricket overseas stalwart Stuart Law is relatively new in the role as head coach so may only be beginning to put his stamp on the side.

Best result: Super 12s (2022) 2022 result: Super 12s Coach: Heinrich Malan

Squad: Paul Stirling (captain), Mark Adair, Ross Adair, Andrew Balbirnie, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Graham Hume, Josh Little, Barry McCarthy, Neil Rock, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Ben White, Craig Young.

Paul Stirling . A man who has been plying his trade making big runs at the top of the order around the world for many a year now and still possesses the potential to dazzle with a quickfire 50 or even 100.

Has the added burden of captaincy this time around though so will be interesting to see how he balances those responsibilities.

Josh Little . Has made a breakthrough for Gujurat Titans in this year's IPL, an achievement which convinced Ireland's selectors to let him stay on in India until the eve of the T20 World Cup to continue tuning up instead of facing Pakistan in their recent three-match series.

Curtis Campher . The South African-born seam bowling all-rounder could play a crucial role in the middle-order and the middle overs with both bat and ball in hand. Also has the ability to engineer a run out with his electric fielding.

Switched allegiances to Ireland back in 2020 and immediately made an impact with a half-century on ODI debut against England at Southampton.

Turbulent times off the field in Irish cricket administration have recently seen the men's side reject new central contracts before later accepting revised terms.

Continuing uncertain financial times have led to moves including cancelling plans to host a series against Australia and instead move "home" matches to the UAE to make them more attractive to broadcasters.

But amid the chaos, Ireland still remain a side capable of causing an upset, including in their recent T20 series on home soil against fellow group A side Pakistan where they won the first of three matches and two years ago at the MCG against England, winning a rain-affected Super 12s match by five runs.

Watch every match of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and USA live on Sky Sports Cricket. Also stream with NOW .

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