Having now watched the recording of the whole match (did not follow it live) - I can’t but help feel some sympathy for Pakistan.
Cricinfo’s headline has it right : India scrap their way to Mumbai
I don’t think this match lived up to its hype in terms of team performance. Both teams had more than a few low points. I think Tendulkar’s dropped chances was the key.
But the best part for me was not the match - it was what happened before it started. The rendering of the national anthems. Totally electrifying. Gave me goose-bumps.
I hadn’t heard Pakistan’s national anthem before. It is beautiful and soul stirring.
And as I see the Indian and Pakistan players, fans and the respective Prime Ministers and hear the Punjabi songs blaring in the background - I wonder what is wrong with the picture - we have so much in common, yet so much distrust…so much hostility…why can’t we live in peace ?
I hope I am not sounding magnanimous because India won…I have felt this way for a long time. (esp while listening to Rahat Fateh Ali Khan in my car )…but then a Kasab comes along and spoils it.
And by mentioning the samjotha train, I am absolutely not trying to even the score rather trying to point out that the stakeholders on both sides of borders that thrive on animosity, fear and hatred are still strong enough to derail the whole peace process…call me pessimistic but I absolutely don’t see any hope of normalized relationship between both countries in my lifetime…it is just matter of time before a new incident would stir the relationship once more and we will back to square one…even if terrorism issues get resolved by strock of luck, the level of mistrust is so high that the establishment on both sides will find new ways to continue the clash…..Indians don’t realize how sensitive the water scarcity issue has become in Pakistan (for right or wrong reasons) and I can totally see a major clash emerging from it in near future……
there is one more subtle point that I keep reminding to my Indian friends over here in Usa…..when Indians say that “we are all one people, we have same background. We should become one or we are one….border means nothing”, I totally understand that they are saying it with sincerity to show common points between both countries but it actually works against them as pakistani generations have been raised learning the significance of the two-nation theory, which in fact was the cornerstone of Pakistan movement… Pakistani are very sensitive to this “exclusivity based syndrome’ as compromising it would undermine the very foundation of the country…also since we are much smaller, we tend to be more aggressive, unsecure, sensitive and hostile which is inline with historical precedents…smaller countries such as Israel tend to be me more hostile/sensitive against their bigger neighbors…anyway thanks for kind wishes some1…
Re: Feeling genuinely sorry for Pakistani fans....
Thank you some1, it is a pleasure as always to read your posts. The friendly atmosphere in the stadium yesterday was really heart warming. The match aside both set of players were friendly and no untoward incident took place. Maybe just maybe a thaw has set in. majority of people on both sides want to live in peace and friendship.
Re: Feeling genuinely sorry for Pakistani fans....
Thank you so much. If you guys truly feel sorry for us, keep our Prime Minister there... plzzzz ... We'll send you the president as well if you win the world cup.
Re: Feeling genuinely sorry for Pakistani fans....
Did u watch a single clap from crowd on Wahab Bowling ? This is the answer :)
Anyway I appreciate your thread and no offense.
Yup. Precisely why there can be no aaman ki asha ever. When that cap guy was interviewed after their win he didnt bother to say how we played well, lol we made them won this match and he went on praising his team and not a single word for our team. They acted like a sour winner.
Re: Feeling genuinely sorry for Pakistani fans....
Nice sentiments Some1 :) I feel the same way sometimes, esp when my grandparents tell me stories about living happily with their neighbors in Lahore. But I agree with phoenixdesi - successive generations on both sides of the border have been raised in this atmosphere of hate & mistrust which is not easy to overcome.
As for the match, you are right that both sides made many mistakes. But this is sport, and the side which made fewer mistakes/managed to capitalize on the other's mistakes came out on tops. Pakistan would have lost even if both had played a flawless game since overall the Indian team is stronger than Pakistan's.
Re: Feeling genuinely sorry for Pakistani fans....
Phosenix1 made a good point (the subtle point oart) but IMO that is something that will go away soon - just like new Pak generations have grown up mindful of distinct identity, within India I guess as the older generations which grew up in the pre-separation India and their immediate successors give way to the newer gen, there will be increasingly less feeling of loss (from the separation). This is not going into the rightness or wrongness of the separation, just that it takes time.
Meanwhile things like kasab simply prod the semi-healed tissue and prolong the process
Re: Feeling genuinely sorry for Pakistani fans....
Thank you some1, it is a pleasure as always to read your posts. The friendly atmosphere in the stadium yesterday was really heart warming. The match aside both set of players were friendly and no untoward incident took place. Maybe just maybe a thaw has set in. majority of people on both sides want to live in peace and friendship.
Yes, the crowd at Mohali was much better than say Bangalore 1996.
Re: Feeling genuinely sorry for Pakistani fans....
wow, some1, you have changed for sure!! There was a time on GS when you wrote how you despised everything about Pakistan and Pakistanis.... Thumbs up though and congrats on the win.
I hope the moderators will let the below slide. I will try and stay way from politics in KK henceforth.
Back in 1999 - it was the early days of internet and in the immediate aftermath of the Kargil War I was looking for Pakistanis to let it all out - and I found GS…
12 years on I am much less “venomous” (and may I say more “mature”) but I will not try and pretend that I am a 'turn-the-other-cheek when slapped’ kind of person yet. I am also a realist. I had similar feelings when 300+ people of my adopted home city were massacred by Pak based terrorists. (Imagine 300 people in Lahore being killed by Hindu Militants from India - you will get the idea).
But I also see so many good things that both countries can share/exchange and be better-off as a result. It is such a pity that events like the above happen and sour everything just as things start to get back on track. ( In the first edition of IPL - in one of the games I remember the Jaipur crowd booing Sreesanth for giving Kamran Akmal the stare , Sohail Tanvir was a hero to many people supporting the Rajasthan team - and then Mumbai happened and tainted the budding India-Pak love affair)
Sidenote to some old GS Members : Do you ever go back and read your posts from years ago ? Sometimes I do…and many times I cringe reading my own posts.
Re: Feeling genuinely sorry for Pakistani fans....
I just wish the massacre (300+ people/terror) that were brought up in above post were not brought up. I believe this was neither the thread nor the time to address such issues.
I congratulate the Pakistanis for not answering this with other negatives. Just my opinion.
)…but then a Kasab comes along and spoils it.