A lot is at stake for Pakistan in the final against India. Although they have lost both of their matches against India in this tournament, all will be forgotten if they win the final and lift the trophy.
It’s been more than 6 months since the May conflict between the two nuclear-armed countries, but the conflict has been renewed with the start of the Asia Cup. Pakistani fans weren’t expecting much from their team since they are in a rebuilding phase with a new captain at the helm. However, Indians, on the other hand, made things personal, as evident from the handshake controversy.
After their win in the first match against Pakistan, the Indian team refused the handshake with the Pakistani team. And later in the press conference, Suryakumar admitted that they did so because of the Pahalgam attack, for which they blame Pakistan. Suryakumar Yadav was fined 30 percent of his match fee for these political remarks. The Pahalgam attack was used as a pretext to initiate the May conflict.
Pakistan requested the removal of match referee Andy Pycroft due to the handshake controversy, and they were on the verge of withdrawing from the Asia Cup. However, Pycroft issued an apology, and the matter was settled.
Following the first match between Pakistan and India, sportsmanship took a backseat, and politics came to the forefront as tensions escalated across the border. India was comprehensively beaten in the May conflict, but after beating Pakistan in their two matches of the tournament, they claimed victory at a national level, sounding as if they had won a war against their Pakistani counterparts.
Temperatures were high when the teams faced each other in their Super 4 encounter. Farhan celebrated his fifty in a unique style, using his bat as a gun and firing it. Haris Rauf interacted with the Indian crowd, signalling the falling of Indian crafts and gesturing 6 and 0, which showed the 6 Indian aircraft downed by the Pakistani Air Force.
BCCI lodged complaints to the match referee against both Farhan and Rauf. Farhan was let go with a warning, but Rauf was fined 30 percent of the match fee. He would have thought this was the best money he had ever spent. But Mohsin Naqvi said he would pay the fine in Rauf’s place. If this doesn’t show how much this match means, nothing else will. Even the Defence Minister, Khawaja Asif, had praised Rauf for his gesture, saying, “Keep going strong.”
This indicates that Pakistani politicians are also involved in this high-voltage encounter. Social media will be flooded with content during and after the match, regardless of whether Pakistan wins or loses.
The Pakistani team needs to take this as more than a match. This is not the time to be friendly. It is a war they must win, not just for cricket fans but for the whole nation. Every Pakistani is invested in this match. Indians believe they can exact revenge for May’s defeat by beating Pakistan in this final. The Pakistani team needs to show them that they will beat them on every single ground, be it the battlefield or the cricket ground.
Agha Salman, the Pakistani captain, has already said that he has asked his players to be aggressive on the field and give it their all. I hope the team performs well today and provides a befitting response to Suryakumar, who thinks there is no cricketing rivalry between Pakistan and India. If the Pakistani team wins this match, every Pakistani cricketing fan and supporter will forgive them for all their past defeats.
