\u2018War minus shooting\u2019
\n ISLAMABAD
\nWhen India and Pakistan were forged out of Partition 75 years ago, the split also created one of sport\u2019s greatest rivalries.
\nToday, any cricket match between the two nations is one of the most watched events on the global sporting calendar \u2014 and victory used to promote their respective nationalism.
\nSo strong is the rivalry between the countries that they can\u2019t even share the date of the partition which gave them independence, with Pakistan celebrating it on August 14 and India a day later.
\n\u201cIndia playing Pakistan involves the sentiments of millions,\u201d said Wasim Akram, one of cricket\u2019s all-time greats and now a commentator.
\n\u201cYou become a hero if you perform well \u2026 you are portrayed as a villain if your team loses,\u201d said the former Pakistan skipper.
\nMatches ignite great fervour but they have also defused military tensions between the two nations, which have fought four wars since independence from Britain in 1947.
\nDuring one period of sabre rattling in 1987, as troops massed along their frontier, military ruler General Muhammad Ziaul Haq showed up unannounced in New Delhi \u2014 ostensibly to watch a match between the two.
\nThe move, as crafty as any a cricket captain could conjure up on the field, led to a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, and tensions eased.
\n\u2018Mother of all matches\u2019
\nStill, the on-field rivalry has spilled off the cricket pitch for now.
\nThe neighbours have not played a Test since 2007, instead meeting only in the shorter versions of the game and at multi-team competitions on foreign soil, rather than head-to-head series at home.
\nWhen they do play \u2014 as they will at the Asia Cup later this month in the United Arab Emirates \u2014 cricket fans around the world are glued to their TV screens, a multibillion-dollar bonanza for broadcasters.
\nThe 2019 50-over World Cup clash between Pakistan and India drew 273 million viewers, while 167 million watched them in last year\u2019s Twenty20 World Cup.
\n\u201cNothing can match an Indo-Pakistan bilateral series because it is played in a different league,\u201d former prime minister and cricket captain Imran Khan, who led Pakistan to World Cup glory in 1992, said in a Sky Sports documentary.
\n\u201cThe atmosphere is filled with tension, pressure and enjoyment.\u201d
\nPakistan Cricket Board chief executive Faisal Hasnain called games against India the \u201cmother of all cricket matches\u201d.
\n\u201cFans want these two countries to play each other on a regular basis but resumption is only likely when there is a thaw in relations,\u201d he told AFP.
\n\u201cWe can only wait and hope that happens.\u201d
\nPractice fodder
\nIntroduced to the sub-continent in the 18th century, cricket was played mostly by its white colonial rulers, but locals learned the game by being used as bowling or batting fodder in the practice nets.
\nIndia won Test status in 1932, but after Partition most Muslim players \u2014 including three who had played for the national team \u2014 migrated to Pakistan, who had to build from scratch.
\nPakistan\u2019s first Test, appropriately, was against India, in 1952 \u2014 and they were led by Abdul Hafeez Kardar, one of the three double internationals.
\nSince then Pakistan and India have played 59 Tests, with Pakistan winning 12, India nine, and the rest drawn.
\nIn ODIs Pakistan also have the edge, but India have won seven of their nine T20 encounters.
\nIn the women\u2019s game, India have won all 11 of their ODIs and 10 of their 12 Twenty20s since first meeting in 2005.
\nThe advent of one-day cricket has only boosted the rivalry with one commentator calling their clashes \u201cwar minus shooting\u201d.
\nIn 1991, Aaqib Javed\u2019s seven-wicket haul, including a hat-trick, helped Pakistan win the Wills Trophy in Sharjah in a match that ended in near-darkness, sparking outrage from the losing Indian side and fans.
\n\u201cThey whinged about it for months,\u201d Aaqib said drily.
\nBut Pakistan fans have also shown their bile, sending death threats to Wasim Akram after he withdrew from a key final against India because of injury.
\n\u201cAt times the fans\u2019 reaction is intolerable,\u201d Akram said.
\nFormer Indian batsman Sanjay Manjrekar said he misses regular clashes against Pakistan.
\n\u201cIt was my favourite opposition for all the entertainment they provided on the field with their banter,\u201d he told AFP.
\n\u201cPlus the fact that they were a damn good side. \u201c<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u2018War minus shooting\u2019 ISLAMABAD When India and Pakistan were forged out of Partition 75 years ago, the split also created one of sport\u2019s greatest rivalries. Today, any cricket match between the two nations is one of the most watched events on the global sporting calendar \u2014 and victory used to promote their respective nationalism. So […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":277035,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-277021","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n