It is not an exaggeration to say that the day India's cricket tour to Pakistan was cleared, the ecstatic response around the country might have led the onlooker to believe that all outstanding problems between the two countries had been solved.

There had been too many near misses. Ever since that full tour of 1989, there had been blueprints galore but none of them saw the light of day.

With every aborted visit, the prospect of the next one became more and more remote until the whole thing was virtually pushed aside but for the need to go through the formalities of tour planning.

But there were the encounters in so-called neutral venues -Sharjah, Sydney, Johannesburg, Dhaka and others but these were part of the whole - part of a multi-nation tournament.

But Toronto was a 'dedicated' clash between the two nations, and for those who saw it either live or on TV, it was an unforgettable tournament. But, alas, India decided to give Sharjah the go by in the 90s and Toronto fell by the wayside for similar reasons.

Over the years, I had the good fortune to observe some of the memorable clashes between the two countries as a writer. In Sharjah, the 125 all out with Gavaskar's four catches, immediately springs to mind, if you are an Indian, that is! If you support the other side, what better reflection than April 17, 1986 when a ball hit high in the air by a defiant Javed Miandad created cricketing history.

And then there was the match played in the gathering darkness and then a long series of Indian failures which gave currency to phrases like the Sharjah Psyche and the Desert Defeatism!

Pity all that stopped because to the follower of the game on the subcontinent, India versus Pakistan became the be-all and end-all of cricket - something to get deeply passionate about in their often drab lives.

Yes, there were the exceptions - the infamous Calcutta match played 'in camera', and the series of World Cup clashes from Bangalore to Centurion Park. Even these had their unforgettable moments - Jadeja doing the boy on the burning deck bit at Bangalore; Miandad and Kiran More having their theatrical battle on the playing field of Sydney on the warm evening of March 4 of 1992.

And the electric atmosphere of March 1, 2003, where even Transvaal's dolomite surface appeared to melt as a packed house (filled to capacity from daybreak) thrilled to one of the greatest matches played between the two countries. Yes, all these were won by India, just as some of the epic battles of Toronto and Sharjah were annexed by Pakistan.

They said that the passions were unhealthy. But to us who had seen a majority of the great encounters, they were anything but that. They permitted a letting off of steam. "Jeetega bhai jeetega, Pakistan jeetega" or chants of "India...India...India" raised things to a fever pitch, but it bears repetition that there was seldom any violence.

There were several instances of over-reaction; sometimes verbal exchanges, jeering or good-natured ribbing. But when you contrast these with Europe's soccer wars, they were insignificant.

The South Africans sadly reflect that history deprived some of their greats of more meaningful contests.

In the years ahead, we will say with a tinge of regret that the history of the game would have been so colourful if Akram and Waqar at their best had bowled more often to Azharuddin, Tendulkar and Dravid; or if that great warrior Kapil Dev had touched base more often with the other great subcontinental soldier Javed Miandad.

For the likes of Dravid, Laxman and Ganguly, the series ahead will be literally unfamiliar territory, whereas Tendulkar will be renewing his acquaintance with Pakistan after nearly a decade and a half.

The Indian cricket follower always expressed wonder at the fact that while Pakistan with similar soil, weather and dietary conditions has produced a string of pace bowlers from Imran, Sarfaraz and Masood to Akram and Waqar and today's Shoaib and Sami. And as the last two named engage India's superstar batsmen in battle, the excitement across the subcontinent will be unparalleled.