India vs Pakistan: History, a solace for India, burden for Pakistan

Babar has also been around long enough to know that 7-0 would be thrown at him ahead of Pakistan’s 2023 World Cup encounter against India in Ahmedabad on Saturday (October 14). For 31 years, Pakistan have tilted at the Indian windmill across seven World Cup encounters in the league and knockout stages and come out second best. They have lost while chasing, they have been conquered batting first. They have lost in neutral lands such as Sydney and Manchester (twice), Centurion and Adelaide, and in India’s backyard, in Bengaluru and Mohali. They have lost five times with Sachin Tendulkar in the Indian XI, and twice without the maestro. They will be hoping to hit it eighth time lucky, at the gigantic Narendra Modi Stadium where they will be confronted not just by the might of Rohit Sharma’s men but also 100,000 passionate spectators who will unabashedly cheer for the home side.

Pressure? What pressure?

How does one explain this remarkable statistical skew in a rivalry that is otherwise one largely between equals with Pakistan having a slight edge? In all, the teams have done battle in 134 ODIs with Pakistan winning 73 and their neighbours 56. But what happens when it comes to the World Cup? Does anyone even know for sure?

Collective might carries the day in 50-over game

There will be streaks of individual brilliance, sure, but it is collective might that carries the day in the 50-over game more than in its Twenty20 counterpart. One explanation could be that India have had greater all-round depth over the years, they have eked out performances from several cogs in the wheel, they have not been overly reliant on just one or two individuals. They have found a man for a crisis every single time and have been the hungrier, more switched-on outfit.

Another could be that while India are pumped up too, they have found ways to channelise their fire. For all the platitudes about this being just another game, it can’t be. Even if the players want it to be. Particularly in this age of the omnipresent social media, it is impossible to remain in one’s bubble, insulated from the cries and the clamour outside. To apportion extra significance to a game, any game, in a tournament such as the World Cup where so much hinges on the outcome of every single encounter, isn’t the ideal recipe for success.

India’s calmness on the field has manifested itself in smarter, more judicious decision-making over the years. They have also had the benefit of falling back on wise, sagacious heads that haven’t got carried away by the weight of expectations and the hype and hysteria whipped up around them. They have handled themselves with greater assurance and composure, never losing sight of the larger picture and aware that as massive as victory over Pakistan might be, it is just one match in a competition of multiple matches.

Which is not to say that Pakistan haven’t imbibed similar traits. In the last 31 years, some of the greatest cricketers to sport the green cap have been involved in World Cup skirmishes with India, but for all their effervescent talent, they haven’t been able to get it all together even once. Not when Javed Miandad and the great Imran Khan were plotting India’s conquest, not with Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis and Saeed Anwar and Shahid Afridi and Aamer Sohail in their midst, and not with the likes of Shoaib Malik, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Azam, Misbah-ul-Haq, Younis Khan and Saeed Ajmal bolstering their cause.

Will Pakistan overcome the burden of past failures?

Each successive defeat adds to the volume, it contributes to that sinking feeling at the next toss. Azam spoke on Friday (October 13) of the imperativeness of distancing oneself from what has happened in the past, but isn’t that easier said than done? How does the baggage of past failures not infest the squad even if the personnel are different, and they themselves don’t carry many mental scars? Can history be cast aside, if not swept away totally, at the flip of a switch?

Maybe Azam’s team is made of sterner stuff. Maybe, even without Naseem Shah, it fancies its chances against an Indian outfit ticking over like a well-oiled machine. Maybe it has got form and momentum on its side, following victories over Netherlands and Sri Lanka, both in Hyderabad, when it spent its first two weeks in India, acclimatising to the conditions and basking in the warm reception it was accorded by the city of Nawabs. Maybe, maybe…

For all their positive, buoyant mindset, it will be interesting to see how Pakistan react if they are put under early pressure. Will they shrug it off as inevitable in a cricket contest, or will it reopen old mental wounds that can translate into leaden legs, heavy forearms, and an addled mind that will develop a life of its own? Will Pakistan fear 7-0 becoming 8-0? Or will they bounce back mercurially, aware that the worst thing that can happen is history repeating itself?

India are in a better headspace not just because they don’t have to contend with these negative, potentially debilitating thoughts. They have made a cracking start to the tournament, like their rivals, but they are also coming off a record 228-run win over Pakistan in Colombo less than a month back. That might give them the proverbial bragging rights which, truth be told, doesn’t translate into much out in the middle.

This has been a strange tournament. Teams that have won the toss have lost eight matches, a huge surprise given how important the outcome of the spin of the coin is in this part of the world. Ahmedabad is a preferred chasing ground but Pakistan have lost their last three World Cup games against India while batting second, perhaps finding the pressure of a total to hunt down daunting. So much to ponder over, so many potentially decisive decisions to make. Would Pakistan rather lose the toss than the match? For sure. But does cricket pan out that way? Hmmm…