The India-Pakistan game proved cricket is a great leveler
Nothing lasts forever.
We've heard, said and experienced this line on many an occasion through different walks and spheres of life. And considering the fickle nature of life in itself, the saying holds good. After all, life is akin to a sinusoidal waveform - it comes with its alternating crests and troughs that all but have to be waded through across the constant called time.
Drawing a correlation with arguably cricket's most celebrated rivalry (and definitely the most hyped), the Super 12 contest between India and Pakistan in Dubai saw one team brought down from the crest of a superlative record across World Cups against their arch-rivals, while another rose emphatically like a phoenix from the ashes to break a long-standing hoodoo.
Past records in India-Pakistan games count for nothing
That Pakistan completely outclassed and outplayed their Indian compatriots on Sunday night needs no further reaffirmation than the sheer margin of victory. The numbers do the talking to justify the same and it's best left to it. And truth be told, the statistics of a lopsided record against India across international World Cups, which date back as far as 1992, are as futile as Australia's proud unbeaten Test record at The Gabba, which came to a shuddering halt earlier this year.
The hype around the contest was fair in some ways, owing to the sheer lack of cricket the two teams play against each other. Yet, is there a line that can be drawn in terms of how far it can be stretched to the point that it doesn't get ugly? Most definitely. Has that line been crossed though? Pretty much every single time.
Yet there is so much to learn from cricket that continues to hand out lessons at will. The biggest takeaway from the latest chapter of the iconic rivalry is that the sport was and continues to remain a massive leveler. It is more than just any average cliche - last night's result bucked a massive trend to drive the same.
But it wasn't just the end result that drove home this narrative - a number of subplots within the major plot behave as further vindication of this.
Secured the historic win against rival India. It was a high pressure, nerve-rattling and thrilling game of cricket, but team green kept passion and spirit high to chase the target quite easily. @babarazam258 @iMRizwanPak played a brilliant knock.Shaheen was so phenomenal. 🇵🇰❤️ https://t.co/GvoYs4RkGQ
Perhaps none more so than Rohit Sharma's first ball dismissal, with Shaheen Shah Afridi's sorcery bringing about the undoing of India's limited-overs vice-captain. For a man who toyed with the Pakistani attack the last time the two sides met during the 2019 World Cup, it was a ripper of an inswinger that left him bamboozled early on in the innings. That, if anything, was just an indicator of what was to come with KL Rahul too falling prey to Afridi's guile and craft.
That was not all though - for a side whose catching and ground fielding has been their perennial Achilles' heel, the Pakistan players caught just about everything coming their way. Not a single dropped catch and no mishap barring an errant throw on the part of Shaheen Afridi towards the backend of the innings summed up a near flawless outing for Babar Azam's men and one that bodes extremely well for a side who have had a notorious tryst with buckling under crunch situations.
Mind you, this isn't to say India capitulated to hand their opponents a resounding victory. While it was a showing that needed a lot more fluency and polish, India will know that they were just overpowered by a side who didn't put a foot wrong - a fact duly acknowledged by skipper Virat Kohli, who also stated that his side aren't one to press the panic button too quickly.
You know this victory isn’t about how India played badly, it is about how well Pakistan played. So make it about your players, your team. This was as calm & clinical as it can get. Absolutely professional, brilliant team performance. Captained from front by Bobby.
It was a contest that witnessed a first in terms of the end result as far as international World Cups in the sport go. But a number of life's general practicalities were proved again in the cauldron of what was an electrifying Sunday evening. These practicalities were always there for the taking, but the fact that it was a first for an India-Pakistan contest restated these factors like none other.
The biggest learning of them all? Cricket was, and remains, a massive leveler.