BANGALORE: Cricket contests between India and Pakistan are difficult to organize but soccer may have shown the region’s most popular sport how to build bridges.
The national football teams met Wednesday for the first time since 2014, with Sunil Chhetri scoring a hat-trick as No. 101-ranked India beat No. 195-ranked Pakistan 4-0 at Bangalore in the opening game of the South Asian championship.
There may have been an on-field brawl after India coach Igor Stimac was red-carded for preventing Pakistan from taking a throw-in late in the first half, but just having the game at all was a cause for satisfaction at a time of so much uncertainty in cricket ahead of the World Cup.
“It could be a turning point,” Haroon Malik, leader of the committee running the Pakistan Football Federation, told The Associated Press in the wake of the game. “Football unites the world and we need to enjoy playing each other and we need to have fun.
“The emotion of playing India is always special.”
That's certainly the case in cricket, where both teams are among the world's elite. The last India-Pakistan cricket encounter was at the World Twenty20 tournament in Australia last October, when more than 90,200 fans packed the Melbourne Cricket Ground to witness India scrape to a narrow, last-ball victory.
It's not lost on anyone that most recent meetings have been on neutral turf.
India and Pakistan have met in only 60 test matches dating back to 1952, a remarkably low figure considering the proximity of the countries.
The last bilateral test series was in late 2007, when India hosted three tests, and the last time India traveled to Pakistan for a test series was in early 2006.
In the limited-overs format, the last eight one-day international meetings have been on neutral turf — including World Cup group games at Adelaide, Australia in 2015 and at Manchester, England in 2019.
India's cricketers haven't played in Pakistan since July 2008, less than a year before a terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team's bus during a test match at Lahore in 2009. International cricket was suspended in Pakistan until Zimbabwe toured in 2015. New Zealand, England and Australia have all toured there in the last 18 months but India indicated last October it would not travel to Pakistan to play in the Asia Cup in August and September.
On June 15, the Asian Cricket Council announced that the six-nation tournament will be split between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, where India is expected to play its games.
In response, Pakistan hasn't yet approved its team to travel to India for the 50-over World Cup, which is due to start in October.
There were no heavy overtones for soccer's South Asian Cup, although Pakistan players only received their visas two days before the game and there were some travel delays which disrupted match preparations.
Soccer's world governing body, FIFA, last July ended Pakistan’s 15-month suspension for “third-party interference" and retained Malik as head of the “normalizing committee” running the national federation after years of infighting by groups of officials.
The national team comprises Pakistani players from lower-tier leagues around the world, meaning little time for overseas and domestic-based players to practice together before events such as the SAFF tournament.
“For the record, the governments of India and Pakistan have been super supportive” Malik said. “It would not have happened otherwise. It took longer than it should have, but there were processes that had to be completed and were completed.”
The All India Football Federation declined to comment on the proceedings but has been supportive.
“The AIFF has gone all out to have us come and play and the South Asian Football Federation has been actively assisting too,” Malik said. “The spirit of unity is an important part of any sport and I hope that football can lead the way.”
It could take some time for the spirit of unity to be restored in cricket.
Former Pakistan captain Javed Miandad told reporters earlier this week that Pakistan should not play at the ICC Cricket World Cup if India does not visit first for the Asian tournament.
“We should refuse until they visit,” Miandad said. “Sports is something which strengthens ties and builds relations. But, I strongly believe that until India come to Pakistan, we have no reason to go there either."
