The Cricket Test

01–06–2018, Mumbai, India: Some people think cricket is a matter of patriotism and treachery. I don’t like that attitude. I can assure them it is much more serious than that.

Good Morning Everyone. This is The Friday Post on a warm Friday Morning. The IPL — Indian Premier League — just ended with old warhorse Chennai Super Kings lifting the trophy. Reminiscing upon the importance of cricket on our lives while we were growing up, I think it would be a good opportunity to look at Indian Muslims and their relation with cricket — especially India and Pakistan matches.

Hating Pakistan

I remember hating Pakistan and its cricket team while growing up. There is still no love lost, but those days were different. I never enjoyed the beauty of Wasim Akram’s swingers or Waqar Younis’ yorkers. Saeed Anwar and Inzamam-ul-Haq were always “lesser batsmen” never equal to Sachin, Sourav, and Rahul. Cricket was a battle and Pakistan was the enemy.

It wasn’t until much later that I read an interview with Imran Khan. I forget the exact details but he mentioned how he used to hate India while growing up. It was only when he toured India that he realised how “normal” people here were. Their lives were on getting their daily bread, they loved their cricket, and they appreciated a good performance.

I generally don’t say the words “This changed my life”. This interview too didn’t. It did give me a new perspective. On my early-teenage impressionable mind, it left an imprint.

Keeping Shut

I remember cricket being a subject of discussion when we were young. While my non-Muslim friends didn’t shy away from praising Pakistani cricketers once in a while, I used to remain quiet. I was afraid a stray word appreciating someone’s cricketing skills might be interpreted incorrectly and land me in trouble.

This fear still hasn’t left me; leaving home meant more carefulness in everything I do and say.

Very recently, I warned a friend whose brother had posted a congratulatory message on social media for the Pakistan Cricket Team. “You are living in a safer environment. People elsewhere have to pay the price.” I was effectively asking him to keep shut.

The difference when India played Pakistan

The India-Pakistan match in the 2003 World Cup at Centurion still remains the greatest sporting spectacle of my life. I wanted India to win the World Cup; yet, this match held a special significance. I fervently hoped ruin for the Pakistan team. When Pakistan lost, I couldn’t have been happier. My reaction to other matches wasn’t the same. I usually appreciated a good inning from an opposition player, something which just wasn’t possible that day.

I don’t think this difference will ever go away as long as India and Pakistan are hostile to each other. England and Argentina football matches are still coloured with animosity. As long as time doesn’t resolve the differences between the two nations involved, all sporting contests will have a political undertone. What can be done away with is the communal overtone these matches have.

News, News, and Fake News

It’s imperative that all contests between India and Pakistan are politically charged. What does not follow is the vilification of Indian Muslims over the same. The recent India-Pakistan Champions trophy final saw a lot of fake and doctored videos circulated which showed Indians celebrating the Pakistani win. This was followed by incidents of Muslims being beaten up and taken into police custody as well. Such incidents only go on to show how deep-rooted the hatred is and how strongly fear has gripped the nation.

Quora is filled with answers on why Indian Muslims support Pakistan. Beneath the apparent erudition that Quorans add to their answers, the hate and vitriol lurk. It’s as if everyone has figured out the mentality of Indian Muslims — as if we are one single entity. The idea of a Muslim Brotherhood is taken out of context and given a communal spin to imply that we are incapable of loving our nation and hence supporting our team.

The Players aren’t spared either

A friend had gone to watch an India-Pakistan encounter at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan misfielded on the boundary. A spectator next to my friend immediately questioned Irfan’s patriotism — he intentionally misfielded because he was a Muslim. Irfan had burst into the Indian team after stellar performances against Pakistan; the then-captain Sourav Ganguly had called him the difference between Indian and Pakistani cricket team.

This phenomenon could perhaps best be understood by looking at the life of Mohammad Azharuddin. The former captain had won many matches against Pakistan; yet a few poor performances were enough to make Shiv Sena question his dedication to India. The stylish batsman is now a pariah in Indian cricket due to his alleged involvement in the match-fixing scandal. There were many others who were named as well; Azhar is perhaps the only one still shunned by BCCI in spite of being cleared by the courts.

End it, please

It is not theoretical physics to understand that this has to end. Indian Muslims don’t want to be looked upon suspiciously every time we play Pakistan. We don’t want Muslim sportsmen representing India to be viewed as traitors every time they commit a small mistake on the cricket field. We don’t want to think twice before appreciating an opponent’s skill. We don’t want to be thrown into jails for crimes we didn’t commit. We don’t want every cricket match to be a test of our patriotism.

We don’t know for sure if this is ever going to happen. Till then, live long and prosper.

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This post was also published here.