History repeats itself!

By now most teams have attuned to the varying conditions at the ICC World Cup 2023 but the one lesson they havent seemed to learn is how to compete with India in its own backyard The last three group stage encounters are an indictment on the other major teams as they appear to be waiting for Indias standard to slip rather than trying to attain their level of brillianceThis allconcurring Indian teamrsquos aura is way too sturdy to wear out This became most evident by the way nerves dwindled between the crease in the first 50 75 overs on Saturday Still there were bigger things to come A ruthless carnage with the bat lucid pangs of despair contrasting emotions and the undying Motera crowdrsquos roarIndiarsquos sevenstar record against Pakistan in the 50over World Cup became 80 by the end of the dayIt makes perfect sense to say that their most recent onslaught against Pakistan in the Asia Cup was nothing short of a dress rehearsal for their wresting of the crown in this format a few weeks laterPakistan had every reason to be apprehensive against the obdurate Indians even though Babar Azam tried his best to shrug off Indiarsquos stranglehold before the inquisitive Indian media Traditionally India have struggled to spot worldclass quicks unlike Pakistan who seemingly have had a rotating line of precocious pacemen But these are now things of the pastFor a long time now the Men in Bluersquos game plan has been a simple one to crack That is rely on at least one of the top three going big before a lsquoworldclassrsquo middleorder consolidates And while that has almost always been put on display in recent years Indiarsquos cause has been aided by the rise of a bowling attack every bit as good as its batting orderThere are a handful of rivalries in sport that capture the imagination like the coming together of India and Pakistan Past encounters between the two have never been about subtle nuance On the field it is a billiondollar grudge match between the two Asian cricketing giants Off the field itrsquos a tale of crossborder neighbours a rivalry of cultures heightened by geopolitical tensions arising every now and thenOn Saturday while India walked out to bat there was a reminder of a time when the contest between India and Pakistan captivated the public courtesy of the lethal concoction of Waqar Younisrsquo swing and Saqlain Mushtaqrsquos spin As the crowd was swept up in fits of patriotic fervour broadcasters tapped back into the lsquogoldenrsquo archivesThe Kiran MoreJaved Miandad joust or the Venkatesh PrasadAamir Sohail confrontation are still fresh in onersquos mind but how a precociously talented 19yearold Sachin Tendulkar almost hijacked the side in the 1992 World Cup out of nowhere with some cavalier batting can still make goose bumps prickle on your backAlso ReadCricket World Cup Where fandom comes with a lsquohefty price tagrsquoDuring World Cups jingoism aside the Men in Blue have most often called the shots over their famed rivals The outcome was no different this timeIt was almost a nocontest after the Indian skipper waded into Pakistan pace duo of Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf with a legion of sparkling shots none juicier than that wondrous pull shot behind square of Afridi which sailed for a dazzling six amid a turbulent blast of vuvuzelas and drums back in the stands If this wasnt enough to knock the Babars out of the contest pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrahrsquos resemblance with that of a tiger on the prowl and Mohammed Sirajrsquos wolflike aggression saw Pakistan tread on fragile stilts before they succumbed at 191 in 425 overs Notably there was no single six in their essayPakistan lacked the depth to compete with a menacing Indian side and the T20 World Cup 2021 triumph seemed just an aberration to be honestHaving said that the prematch ritualistic hype drummed up quite a crescendo but the Motera showdown turned out to be a dud of a battle After another thumping victory over Pakistan I wonder if it is fair to call it a rivalry anymore in all seriousness Cricket is always at its best when feisty battles are involved with unpredictable outcomes but of late IndiaPakistan contests have continued to remain a lopsided affair and not the thrillamoment fight that we as fans like to believeCome this Friday Pakistan will look to recapture hope against the rudderless AustraliansBabarrsquos preconceived notion that lsquorecords are meant to be brokenrsquo could come to pass this time who knows