ONE Indian flag was burnt. There were three arrests and as many as nine people were asked to vacate the premises. The last time India and Pakistan went to war in 1999, the rhetoric and the violence surrounding the Super Six fixture during the 1999 World Cup descended into troubling territory.
Matches featuring the two Asian neighbours have frequently witnessed rhetoric and war metaphors but it's seldom played amid the backdrop of actual war on the battlefield. It's why Sunday's Asia Cup fixture may be different and can be directly compared to the game played at Manchester all those moons ago in 1999.
The two nuclear-armed countries may not be at war with each other but these are extraordinary times. Post the Pahalgam tragedy in April, an armed conflict broke out between the two nations. Air strikes, missile attacks and drones threatened to fracture already dicey diplomatic relationships between the two nations.
Also, do remember the centre's stance with respect to Operation Sindoor, India's military response to the Pahalgam terror attacks. "Today's India thinks differently and acts differently," Rajnath Singh, the defence minister, said in Parliament in July. "Operation Sindoor was paused as the armed forces had achieved the desired politico-military objectives..."
On the other side of the aisle, a few members of the wider cricketing fraternity have maintained that sport and politics shouldn't mix. But that's kind of missing the point. Wherever there's sport, geopolitics and political maneuvering lurk in the shadows.
The Asia Cup itself has felt the pull of geopolitical tensions over the decades. Nascent editions of this tournament has seen boycotts by both India (when Sri Lanka hosted it in 1986) and Pakistan (when India hosted it in 1990-91).
****
On social media, multiple personalities are continuing to call for a boycott of the game with less than 24 hours to go. There's a whiff of uneasiness in the air as former cricketers -- storied cricketers -- from both nations have continued to echo ultra nationalist views. One India - Pakistan fixture (the WCL 2025 semifinal) was called off in July after India's refusal to play in it.
Days out from the game, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as well as non-playing staff of the Indian team are answering questions with respect to a potential boycott.
India's batting coach Sitanshu Kotak says they are fully focused on the game. "For the players and us, once the BCCI says and they are aligned with the government, we are here to prepare and we are here to play. It will be a competitive game. So, we would rather focus on that."
The 52-year-old rejected claims that it can be tough to focus on cricket given the growing clamour of a boycott. "Once we are here to play, I think players are focused on playing cricket," he said on Friday. "I personally don't think they have anything in mind apart from playing cricket."
In the pre-tournament press conference featuring the Indian captain, Suryakumar Yadav had to answer the same kind of questions. "Aggression is always there when we take the field," he had said. "Without aggression, I don't think you can play this sport.
****
Nayan Mongia remembers the 1999 World Cup match between the two countries vividly. Having injured his left hand earlier in the tournament, the keeper-batter had missed the fixture against Sri Lanka but was brought back to play England and Australia. In the lead up to the Pakistan match, he was not certain whether he would play. That is when coach Anshuman Gaekwad approached Mongia and asked to play in what was going to be a very important match.
"I was keeping with one hand because three-four matches ago, my hand was broken," Mongia recalls. "Late Anshuman Gaekwad and team management said that 'if you can play, then it's better'. I took a painkilling injection and played the match. I did the keeping with one hand. I caught the balls only with my right hand, not with my left hand. Because there was no chance that I could get that pain in that left hand. It was very difficult and I remember I caught Azhar Mahmood off Anil Kumble. I think, it was regarded as one of the best catches of the World Cup."
While Mongia understood the significance of the contest and did his part in India beating Pakistan, it wasn't until after the match when he realised the magnitude of it in the backdrop of the Kargil war. "When the Kargil War happened in 1999, the World Cup had started. We had no idea that the Kargil War had become so big and massive. I don't think I have seen such a celebration in India. The people gathered on the road from the ground to the hotel, the sweets were distributed, the celebration was there. It cannot be put into words. We came to know its depth when we came to India. That's when we came to know about it," he says.
The former keeper from Baroda reiterates what it means to a player to have the chance of doing something like that for his country. "You don't get that chance again and again. You yearn for that chance to do something for the country. Not everyone gets this chance. I was lucky that I got that chance. Even if my hand or my leg is broken, we have seen today's cricketers that they don't want to lose this chance. When you play for the country, your passion is different.
Amay Khurasiya, who was also a part of the 1999 World Cup squad, echoes the sentiment. "I will be lying if I say 'no, no, no', it is like nothing," he tells this daily. "It is definitely personal. The players do want to focus on the game and that is right. But they are also equally desperate to win against Pakistan. There's always turmoil (going on in a player's mind)."
"By and large, you are being told to just focus on your game, that's just play the game. If you play the game, you'll win it. If you focus on many outside factors, then you will get distracted. So distraction is something which will make you lose the game. So it's like focusing on the game," the former MP cricketer explains.
Sunday will be no different when both teams take the field at the Dubai International Stadium for the Asia Cup encounter. There will be emotions, internal turmoils and extra motivation to give their best and help their country win. But to do that, they will have to keep it all in the back of their mind, and focus on what they could do on the field. For, in the end, that is what will determine who has the last laugh.
****
When an American writer, Mike Marqusee, travelled through South Asia during the 1996 World Cup, he was spellbound by cricket's influence in everyday life. He came to see it through a socio-economic lens with a hefty splash of politics mixed for equal measure.
He decided to name his book 'War Minus The Shooting'. No other four word phrase has quite accurately captured the emotions of a cricket match between India and Pakistan.