India v Pakistan T20 Clash – In Conversation with India-Australian cricketer, Gurinder Sandhu and Pakistani-Australian cricketer, Fawad Ahmed by Ayush, Sports Photojournalist

Probably there is no other sporting rivalry greater than the one between Pakistan and India in cricket. With the two World Cup winning nations just days away from locking horns, fans from both countries seem to be readying themselves for what seems to be a blockbuster of a cricket match. As we countdown to the fixture on Sunday the 24th, Indus Age got in touch with Australian cricketers Fawad Ahmed and Gurinder Sandhu to understand from them the significance of this epic cricket rivalry, how they and their families and communities look forward to this fixture and their expectations from the match on Sunday.

Fawad, born and raised in Pakistan but an Australian citizen since 2013, reminisced growing up in a family that had a strong connection to cricket as he would often play cricket with his brothers, and with Pakistan winning the World Cup in 1992, the cricket fever around then was too high. “It was big…huge…it was always the pinnacle of sports for us,” said Fawad describing the India-Pakistan fixture. He further added that in the 90s and early 2000s Pakistan had a really good team and were quite dominating with India also boasting a squad full of legends, a great competitive match was almost always put on display. In addition to this, the political and historical backgrounds of both the countries added a new dimension to the rivalry making it even more important for people from either nation. Fawad’s cousins Junaid Khan and Yasir Shah are professional cricketers for Pakistan who have also represented the nation against India. Speaking from his cousins’ perspective as players in the match, Fawad elaborated, that India-Pakistan matches are not considered just another game but are crunch games which can be very nerve-wracking that can make or break a player – either a player can perform at their best or they would crack under the pressure and it is always a matter of pride and honour for a cricketer to be able to play for their nation and represent them against their greatest rivals.

Gurinder, born and raised in Sydney in an Indian family, recounted similarly to Fawad that his family shared a deep connection with cricket as they never really missed any matches, always had cricket on the television and growing up he often played in the backyard with his father and brother. “When I was a lot younger, back then the rivalry was a lot fiercer. It still is there today,” he said adding that it is one of the most mouth-watering fixtures to look forward to. He said, “I have a lot of Pakistani mates who I always talk to and message whenever Pakistan plays India or even Australia. I tell them it’s going to be tough, exciting and definitely a good game of cricket,” further he cheekily added, “…and if they lose the game then I get on the front foot and really give them a big barrage.”

“I am a sports lover who appreciates a good competition. India-Pakistan matches are just like the Ashes, we Australians love winning the Ashes but as a sports fanatic you want to see an enjoyable game rather than just smashing the other team and winning easily. Honestly, I would still support Pakistan to win but I would like to see it as a close competitive game against India,” added Fawad. Recollecting his childhood days when his family and friends would gather together to watch India-Pakistan games, he said he has not been able to keep up with the same tradition since moving to Australia because of the massive time-differences, however, having plenty of Indian friends, they still manage to get together some times.  While Gurinder mentioned he has never witnessed an India – Pakistan match while being in India himself but has definitely seen a lot of videos on Instagram where the fans do a lot of crazy things like getting out on the streets, dancing and bursting crackers following a win. He says, “Here in Australia, whenever there is an India – Pakistan match it brings people together – friends and families come together to enjoy the match, have food,  sort of a party or a small get-together and a good time, which I think is awesome.”

On being asked for their predictions for the match, Fawad said, “India do look favourites at this stage, however, unlike ODI or test formats it is very difficult to predict a T20 match as one player could be the game-changer, say if someone takes quick 5 wickets or scores a 100 off 30 or 35 balls.” He further added that Pakistan come in with a very talented squad and as they are experienced in playing a lot of cricket over the years in the UAE they could be familiar with ground conditions. “IPL was also held in UAE but it is different to international cricket as not all players of the same nationality are playing in the same team but are distributed in different teams. It is very hard to predict but I am expecting a very good game of cricket,” he told Indus Age. While on the other hand, Gurinder said, “ I think Pakistan are a dangerous team. They have some match winners with both bat and ball and on their day, I think, they can beat any team. Its going to be a really…really good match. India would have to play really well otherwise an upset like the Champions Trophy is quite possible. It is going to be an awesome game which hopefully lives up to the spectacle that it can be,” while still maintaining that he would cheer for India to win.  

According to Fawad, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli would be the core of the Indian team and while they do have KL Rahul, Rishab Pant and Hardik Pandya, getting Sharma and Kohli out early can cause India to struggle. Talking of Pakistan, he feels the opening pair of Rizwan and Babar Azam would be the difference makers in terms of batting while in bowling it could be Shaheen, Imad Wasim and Hasan.  Gurinder also backed Babar Azam for Pakistan and Rohit Sharma for India to be they key players, saying that getting them out early in the game would put their respective nation on the backfoot and put a lot of pressure on the rest of their teammates.

Rivalries aside, both Fawad and Gurinder were of the opinion that it was something really special about the subcontinent region that both nations have produced many legends of the game over the years which are very strongly admired on either sides of the border like Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar, MS Dhoni, Wasim Akram, Javed Miandad and Waqar Younis to name a few. Both Fawad and Gurinder said the obvious names like Sachin Tendulkar, Abdul Razzaq, Virendra Sehwag and Shoaib Akhtar were the legends they themselves idolised with Fawad mentioning that even to this date he sometimes goes on to YouTube to watch videos of Sachin and as a younger self imitating Anil Kumble’s style of bowling.

It is quite well-known and unfortunate that India and Pakistan share a bitter diplomatic relationship, so much so that they do not even engage in bilateral sports anymore. Fawad strongly believes that sports could be used as a ladder between the two countries to improve the relationship. He said, “I feel peace is the most important thing. There is no dialogue or communication between the two countries but I feel sports could be a medium not just cricket but also other sports like hockey, which are huge in both nations, to resume friendly dialogue and peace talks and once peace is established between two countries the rest will take care of itself and we could go back to enjoying the competition in sports between the countries like in the 90s.” In agreement with Fawad, Gurinder also felt sports could pave a way for enhancing of the India-Pakistan relations as sport promotes equality, inclusivity and community building, he said, “Something like an India-Pakistan series would bring together people to stadium to support their teams. It is the beauty of sport that it unites a lot of different people. The T20 World Cup is a good opportunity for Australian cricket, especially for people belonging to South-Asian heritage, to come together and feel a part of the cricket community here.”

India and Pakistan are set to meet at the Dubai International Stadium this Sunday the 24^th October at 6:00pm GST (Dubai Time). 
Please refer to the table below for match details accurate to your region.

The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup is set to return to Australia in 2022. Please click on
the below to register for priority access to tickets and latest event information.
https://ticketsaus2022.t20worldcup.com/content/wt20/home.aspx

  Gurinder Sandhu, India v Pakistan T20 Clash