News desk
\nLONDON
\nIt seemed as if The Oval was hosting a Pakistan-India game here on Sunday.
\nAll roads leading to the iconic stadium were packed with more than an hour to go before the start of the match.
\nIt was the sort of scene that is normally witnessed when the two Asian rivals clash on the cricketing field. But there was no green just a sea of blue as Indian fans chanted slogans in their team\u2019s favour looking confident that Virat Kohli and his men will conquer defending champions Australia in what is seen as one of the biggest World Cup clashes.
\nOver the years, the rivalry between India and Australia has grown. In the past, the Aussies would, more often than not, thrash the Indians but things have changed. India\u2019s rapid rise in international cricket meant that Australia\u2019s series-winning triumph in an ODI series in India in the lead up to the World Cup was an unexpected result.
\nOn the sidelines of the ongoing World Cup, a debate has started as to which team is better equipped to win the World Cup. There is another debate as to who is the world\u2019s best batsman and the two men in the spotlight are India\u2019s Virat Kohli and Australia\u2019s Steve Smith.
\n\u201cThe rivalry between Australia and India is now definitely a major cricketing rivalry,\u201d believes Melinda Farrell, who is covering the World Cup for Cricinfo.
\nBut is Australia-India now a bigger cricketing rivalry than Pakistan-India?
\nMost critics and fans don\u2019t think so.
\n\u201cYou can\u2019t compare the two rivalries,\u201d says Shameer Rehman, a veteran Indian journalist from Kerala. \u201cCricketing wise, the contest between India and Australia has definitely grown but has it or will it replace the India-Pakistan rivalry? I don\u2019t think so,\u201d he said.
\nGaurav Gupta, from Times of India, agrees.
\n\u201cLife still comes at a standstill in India whenever the team is playing against Pakistan. It hasn\u2019t really changed. The fans back home are still passionate about the rivalry and till that passion is there things won\u2019t change,\u201d he said.
\nFarrell, meanwhile, believes that cricketing neutrals were slowly losing interest in Pakistan-India games. \u201cThings were becoming a bit one-sided since India was winning most of the matches featuring the two teams quite comfortably. But that has changed after what happened in the Champions Trophy final two years ago,\u201d she said.
\nBack in 2017, Pakistan came back from a hammering at the hands of India in a group game in Birmingham to thrash their arch-rivals in a completely one-sided final at The Oval.
\nRehman, meanwhile, is of the view that the on-field rivalry between Pakistan and India is a bit less fierce now then in the past. \u201cToday, the Indian players are better educated and have a better world view. They know that they are professional cricketers,\u201d he said.
\nFor most fans, however, Pakistan-India matches remain a matter of life and death.
\n\u201cI\u2019ll be in Manchester to see India thrash Pakistan. I will settle for nothing less,\u201d said Sandeep Singh as he looked at a stall set outside The Oval to buy Indian flags ahead of Sunday\u2019s game against Australia.
\nPakistan and India will meet in an eagerly-awaited World Cup game at Old Trafford on June 16.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
News desk LONDON It seemed as if The Oval was hosting a Pakistan-India game here on Sunday. All roads leading to the iconic stadium were packed with more than an hour to go before the start of the match. It was the sort of scene that is normally witnessed when the two Asian rivals clash […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":68337,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-68324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n