Essay on “Cricket Can End Indo-Pak Rivalry” Complete Essay for Class 9, Class 10, Class 12 and Graduation and other classes.

Cricket Can End Indo-Pak Rivalry

There is no other game that has grabbed the attention of the South-Asian countries as much as cricket. Sports analysts can talk at length about the damage that it has done to other sport but it is of no use. Ask any lad who his favourite hero is and you are sure to get the name of a cricketing icon and most likely it would be Sachin Tendulkar, and now maybe Irian Pathan.

Of all cricket matches, there is nothing to catch the fancy of the Indian public as much as a match between Pakistan and India. The fact that the two countries had not played each other in Pakistan in 15 years did make a difference to the way that the first phase of the series was viewed (Jeet lo dil was what it was called, after Mr. Vajpayee’s exhortation to the Indian team about winning hearts, in addition to winning matches) but there is no denying the boost that it gave to Indo-Pak relations. While much has been said about Track 2 diplomacy that has been attempted by way of people-to-people contact, there is nothing quite like this “Track 3 Diplomacy” that has the peoples of the two countries begging for more. Starting from the time that Indians queued up outside the Pakistani Embassy in New Delhi waiting to get their visas to witness the clash of the cricketing giants in Pakistan, to Indian Airlines increasing their flights to accommodate cricket-loving Indians, it has been an amazing shift in perceptions. Kargil was forgotten; so was Kashmir, and all that people could think of was cricket! Needless to say that the Pakistani economy must have got a great boost, as a result of the huge influx of Indian tourists visiting the country. Posters of Indian cricketers especially Dravid, Yuvraj, Sachin and Saurav were snapped up and have gone for reprints! Newspapers and television interviews are full of details of the honouring of a guest that the Pakistanis are so proud of, and emails are in circulation about cab drivers, who refuse to accept the fare money the moment they come to know that the passenger is an Indian. Indian cricket fans said that they were made to feel at home everywhere and it was almost like being at home.

The five one-day matches between the two countries have shown what can be achieved, if they are at each peace with each other. Agreed that there may be a hidden animosity at some level, because of cultural and religious prejudices, passed on from one generation to another about each other’s practices, but on the whole, it is in the interest of both countries to promote peace. The winners, of course, will be the two peoples who can then watch films from both sides of the border (without having to buy pirated tapes, which is the case with films from India right now), visit their relatives from across the border, without red tape, and what is most important, live without the fear of some nuclear warheads going off resulting in the annihilation of both the countries. Another wonderful spin-off could be that the money now being pumped into the arms race, can be better utilized in development projects to help the poorest of the poor in both countries.

The losers of course will be the Western countries that sell arms to both Pakistan and India, while making a semblance of talking peace with them. Their interventions may not be needed when there is cricket and an understanding of the shared history that no one can take away. As one cricket lover interviewed at the Wagah border put it, “It does not matter who wins.” Hum ek the, ek hain our ek rahenge (We were one, are one and will continue to be one). Imagine the cricket team that would emerge if the two countries were to unite, in the manner of the Koreas. They would certainly be the most unbeatable of world champs in cricketing history!