The national pride of 1.4 billion people is currently on the line as India faces off against arch-rivals Pakistan in the semi-finals of the 2011 Cricket World Cup. (You can follow along online here.) Like its counterpart in soccer, the Cricket World Cup is held once every four years (the holders, Australia, were knocked out by India in the last round), so the chance to advance to the finals doesn't come around very often. A World Cup semi-final would be important enough without it being India vs. Pakistan, but those two countries being involved just takes the game to new heights. Consider the following:
- Cricket is the main sport of both countries, meaning that the natural expression for the political problems between both sides are being taken out on the wicket. The cricketing rivalry between India and Pakistan is insane (think Yankees-Red Sox with 100x the fans and all of the crazy). The last time these sides met, there was nearly a brawl on the field.
- One-day internationals (ODIs) aren't crazy-long. Test cricket can last for days, with subtle strategies which cricket enthusiasts find interesting but that drive everyone else to drink. Short-form cricket involves seeing the ball and hitting it very hard. All the time.
- Pakistan was originally set to co-host the 2011 World Cup with India, but after terrorist attacks on foreign cricket teams touring the country in 2009 lost out to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. This cost Pakistan a lot of money, and although the reasons for doing it were fairly obvious, fans still aren't particularly pleased about losing the chance to have World Cup games in their back yard. Oh, and the game itself? It's being held in India.
- Both teams are very good. India is ranked second in the world in one-day international cricket, while Pakistan is fifth. Amazingly, neither team even made it out of the knockout rounds in the 2007 World Cup, but each team has lost a final within the past twelve years. However, despite being one of the stronger sides in the world and having a winning record against India overall, Pakistan are 0-4 all time against India in the World Cup.
- Sachin Tendulkar plays for India. Tendulkar, now 37, is widely considered to be one of the best players ever to grace the field and holds most of international cricket's batting records. Many might not be familiar with the idea of cricketers as world superstars, but check out this quote: "I have seen God. He bats at no. 4 in India in Tests". From a fan, that would be kind of cool, but it comes from Matthew Hayden, one of Australia's top batsmen over the past two decades.
- Did I mention the over 100 million fans who are watching the game right now?
Although the match started early this morning, it's barely halfway over, with India holding a commanding lead over Pakistan. That Tendulkar guy did the business too, knocking 86 runs during his stand, and it looks like he's put the hosts on course for victory, unless Pakistan can come up with something spectacular, which frankly happens a lot in these matches.
