India Winning a Shrinking Sport

Cricket appears to be a game of not-so-glorious certainties. One in which India and, to a lesser extent, Australia and England dictate terms, and the rest play catch-up

- RITWIK SHARMA

SUNIL GAVASKAR recently confessed that it was Imran Khan who talked him out of considering retiring at the end of India's tour of England in the summer of 1986. The Pakistani all-rounder persuaded the little master to continue playing because he wanted his team to take on the best Indian eleven when the two arch rivals clashed a year later. Gavaskar agreed, and hung up his boots after a marquee series at home where he became the first batsman to reach 10,000 Test runs.

India and Pakistan still play, but it's not cricket anymore.

The edge has gone out of the rivalry, with no bilateral series between them (the last time was when Pakistan visited India in 2012-13), the odd match played almost always in a neutral venue, and an India win often a foregone conclusion. The David versus Goliath equation is no surprise, given the yawning gap in their talent pool and financial muscle — some of India's governing bodies at the state level are richer than the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) — and Pakistan's isolation between 2009 and 2019 when international sides avoided touring the nation over security fears.