AHMEDABAD: It can't get bigger than this. There are rivalries that transcend sports. They are embedded in history and in the socio-cultural fabric. No matter what the occasion or where on earth, every time the two teams meet it's intense. Here, winning and losing have the ability to redefine relationships, spark hostilities and even soothe old wounds. Barcelona vs Real Madrid and Argentina vs Brazil. Closer home, India vs Pakistan.
To understand the off-field magnitude and significance of the clash that is set to take place at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Saturday, one doesn’t have to do much. Just listen to Pakistan captain Babar Azam during the pre-match press conference ahead of the clash against India. The words ‘big’ and ‘pressure’ could be heard more than ten times. Almost equally from the scribes who had filled the press conference room.
The narrative was built in such a way that some questions on cricket almost got lost. After all, it is India versus Pakistan, and one can be excused for largesse. It is the contest for which the organisers, Asian Cricket Council, had a special reserve day in the middle of an already hectic Asia Cup schedule last month.
Here, there is no reserve day, but the hosts, BCCI, have organised special performances from singers Arijit Singh, Sukhwinder Singh and Shankar Mahadevan an hour before the match on Saturday. Something that was not reserved before the first match of the World Cup at the same venue. There will be a special performance during the innings break as well. The organisers would be hoping the Ahmedabad match would halt the trend of crowd-thronging stadiums later in the evening to escape the heat. After all, it's India and Pakistan match we are talking about. The excitement is palpable. And the anticipation is growing by the hour.
Just like the spectators and fans, Babar too sees what’s happening. He knows the history and the rivalry that have been built and later marketed (laced with a tinge of jingoism on TV) over the years. “Yes, an India-Pakistan match is a big game – it is a high-intensity game,” he admitted. At the same time, he also felt the game would be an opportunity to excel. A chance to change the team’s record against India in ODI World Cups. That is what he told his players.
Babar also saw humour in the build-up as well. When asked whether he received a lot of messages to tell him that they should win against India at all costs, he laughed. “More than about winning, I have got more messages about tickets,” he said, before emphasising that they have beaten India in recent times and are confident of doing it again.
It wasn’t any different for India captain Rohit Sharma. The first question thrown at him was about the biggest rivalry in sport to be played in front of a massive home crowd and whether it could be of any disadvantage. Rohit, in his typical manner, had a smirk on his face before elaborating that the India team always get good crowds irrespective of where it's played.
The questions that followed too were about the one lakh crowd and the builld-up that’s been happening on social media. Rohit said that he has stayed off social media. While admitting that it is a big match because of the context, the India captain reiterated the one thing that he had spoken about in the lead-up to this particular clash. “For us, what is important is, we're playing in opposition tomorrow (Saturday), which will be quality. So, we just all come against the quality opposition and play good cricket, which we've done in the last two games. Hopefully, we can again show some consistency in our performance, and play a good game of cricket,” he said.
A good game of cricket is what everyone is expecting. Amid all the chaos ticketing, exorbitant hotel prices, the tighter-than-ever security with more than 40,000 Gujarat police personnel apart from other government security agencies, the extravaganza and add-ons to the game, the anticipation of the fans, and the 30 players, there is one thing that remains constant: a good game of cricket.
The teams also know what is required. Babar tried to ace his sweep shot while Mohammad Rizwan and Iftikhar Ahmed had long nets as well. Babar is searching for runs and is hoping hit form. For India, the captain said that opener Shubman Gill, who missed the first two games, is 99 per cent available and the youngster was training with the team in the middle on Friday evening. Rohit was also confident that they have the arsenal to pick from depending on how the pitch looks.
From the morning of Saturday, Ahmedabad is going to be on hyper mode with all the buzz around the clash and it could be get chaotic as well. But the only thing that matters begins at 2 PM — a good game of cricket between India and Pakistan.