I HAPPENED to be one of the 42,000 people watching the Pakistan-India World Cup cricket match at Adelaide Oval on Feb 15. I must say that it was only on that day I realised how difficult it is to play a game in front of such a huge crowd out of which 85pc were Indian supporters.

It looked as if I was sitting somewhere in India rather than Australia as all around the stadium I could see only blue shirts and nothing else.

Indian supporters flew from India, the US, Canada, UK, Singapore and all parts of Australia to support their team. Not only the physical presence, even the sponsors were also very active and I could see the slogans on big screens throughout the match saying ‘jeetay gah bhai jeetay gah, India jeetay gah’.

Everything was in India’s favour. They were even given the opportunity to play a warm-up match on the same ground that helped them to get familiarised and acclimatised before this big match.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India must have used its influence to make it happen and facilitated its team. Why should not have India win this game as they knew that not only the entire nation but their high ups are supporting them in their own capacities?

On the other hand were the poor Pakistani cricketers suffering from injuries, scared of on-going criticism, terrified with the allegations of match-fixing and so on that were likely to come after the match.

The way Indians supported their team was actually the way national unity and support is to be demonstrated and this is something which is creating the difference. I can assure all Pakistanis that 35,000 plus Indian supporters came on their own expense to support their team and ensure they win this game.

It is time we got rid of the negativity, accepted the facts and developed better understanding about the national unity and support. We really cannot achieve this by sitting in our TV lounges or by attending ridiculous talk shows that show nothing else but negativity. We need to come out and show our presence.

Sajjad Akbar

Adelaide, Australia

Published in Dawn March 2nd , 2015

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