India And Pakistan’s Fraught Relations Can Be Mended Through Women’s Cricket

The sedate surroundings of Dubai International Stadium, site of some rather infamously dull cricket in front of empty terraces, had been transformed.

Of course, it took powerhouses India and Pakistan to lit a fuse as cricket’s best rivalry was renewed at the women’s T20 World Cup. Due to some daft scheduling, the match was played under the baking afternoon sun – around 100 degrees Fahrenheit – in this famously harsh climate.

If it had been played at night, undoubtedly a capacity crowd of 25,000 would have been reached. Still 15,935 rowdy fans attended to set a record for a group stage match at a women’s T20 World Cup. There were no sections of the ground cordoned off from fans like previous matches.

Most of the fans supported India to underline why they are cricket’s undisputed superpower. But it was a festive atmosphere in the terraces without the overt nationalism that creeped into the contest between the rivals in Ahmedabad at last year’s men’s T20 World Cup.

India continued their stranglehold over Pakistan with a hard-fought six-wicket victory. Being more proactive in developing women’s cricket, under the steely gaze of all-powerful boss Jay Shah who watched on in the terraces, India have risen the ranks as they chase women trendsetters Australia and England, who remain the title favorites.

Pakistan, in contrast, have taken time to develop women’s cricket. A women’s T20 franchise league is in the works with a test event held last year. But their relative inexperience compared to India showed once again. India have now won 13 of 16 matches against Pakistan in the T20 format.

The victory ignited India’s campaign after a stuttering start, but it paled in significance compared to the symbolism of the contest.

While men’s matches are sadly reduced to major events because they can’t play bilaterals against one another due to a political standoff, the women’s matches are thankfully shielded from this ugly veneer.

The match in Dubai was played in great spirit and amid the type of diplomacy that is too often lacking from administrators between the countries muddied in the political bickering between the nuclear-armed foes.

India and Pakistan in women’s cricket aren’t barred from playing bilateral series unlike their male counterparts.

With women’s cricket starting to really take off, as underlined by pay parity at this World Cup, bilaterals between these neighbors should start dotting the calendar. Seeing this rivalry flourish could really take the popularity of women’s cricket to new heights.

And it could also help mend fraught relations. While the contest in Dubai was ongoing, Pakistan and India chiefs were still engaged in tense discussions over the upcoming Champions Trophy.

It is the first time Pakistan is hosting an ICC event since the 1996 World Cup, but India have not played there since 2008. Pakistan are adamant that India will be making a long-awaited return, but a hybrid format, as was the case at last year’s Asia Cup with matches played in Sri Lanka, is likely to be shoehorned into the Champions Trophy.

There will be much warring ahead, sadly blighting the sport whose most devoted following hail from these cricket-mad countries. Left-field proposals have been aimed to unite them.

As I first reported last month, rebooting the Afro-Asia Cup, a marquee event played twice in the 2000s when cricketers from foes India and Pakistan famously teamed up, remains on the cards.

“These matches could break down barriers that are there politically,” Sumod Damodar, an advocate for the proposal, told me.

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But it seems fanciful that their players will be able to unite if the Afro-Asia Cup gets off the ground given the tumult and bad blood festering in the backdrop.

Which fortunately doesn’t extend to women’s cricket paving the way for a rare joyous outing at the usually drab venue at Dubai Sports City.