India vs Pakistan: Let bonhomie prevail!

The sight of Virat Kohli and Haris Rauf hugging each other and exchanging bouts of laughter was not a mere putonThere was a touching genuineness to it But that moment on Saturday has more significance to it than its temporary valueIt was emblematic of the evolving relationship between Indian and Pakistani cricket players so different from the edgy political connection between these two South Asian neighboursA day before the big game Kohli also met Pakistan vicecaptain Shadab Khan and shared a few campfire moments Alongside Mohammed Siraj held a mini pace bowlers conclave with Rauf discussing the Pallekele pitch The pictures and videos went viral on social media and were celebratedThe atmosphere remained cordial on match day Naseem Shah was stopped in his tracks by Indian opener Shubman Gill as he wanted the sightscreen to be adjusted Naseem sported a smile rather than those gruff speed merchants who would give a redeyed stare A sign of changing timesShaheen Shah Afridi repeatedly beat the bat and smiled wryly rather than having some rude advice for batters like some of his seniors from the past decades would doIt would have been an astonishing sight for a fan from the 80s or 90s Back then the cricketers seldom engaged in such a public display of camaraderie and it was even looked down upon Behind the stage though they remained friendsImran Khan and Wasim Akram used to drop into New Delhi or Mumbai on private invitations or the players sat around a table in a posh Dubai hotel to share some stories But not so much in daylightAlso ReadIND vs PAK Another top order collapse leaves India on the brinkPerhaps this generation of players has learned to treat cricket just as a sport or they are bold enough to take a call on these matters for themselvesWhen Kohli was going through a modest phase with the bat Pakistan captain Babar Azam posted a supportive message through his X formerly Twitter accountIt wasnt an effort to win a few thousand quick social media followers rather it was a wellmeaning line from another international cricketer who understands the demands of the sport at the highest levelBut the fans from both sides of the border at times cross the limitsThe troll gangs enter the social media battlefield armed with contrived stats and memes trying to establish the superiority of either Kohli or Babar It can take an ugly turn in secondsBut both Babar and Kohli remain immune to this online frenzy In fact Kohli recently termed the Pakistan skipper as the best allformat player in todays gameDespite all the expanding bonhomie a good number of fans will treat an IndoPak match as a matter of life and deathRemember former Pakistan allrounder Shahid Afridi was once dragged to Lahore High Court for saying he was loved more in IndiaSuch fanatic acts will still be there Perhaps a few TV sets will be thrown down from the balcony or photos of cricketers will be garlanded with sandals after their teams defeatBut the cricketers have shown that they are not carrying the baggage of unsorted relations in their mindsWith PTI inputs