What if Indo-Pak cricket bomb fails to explode?

Amit Karmarkar
21 March 2014, 05:26 PM IST

India and Pakistan players have an additional responsibility to give us a cracker of a contest in their World T20 matchup on Friday.

Clearly, there are some reservations among the thinking class about the Super 10 phase (hmmm... 10 teams among 20-odd are 'super') starting with this big game.

Even the ODI World Cup next year in Australia & New Zealand will kickstart with two blockbuster games: India-Pakistan and England-Australia. It means ICC wants big games upfront.

I don't agree with such scheduling in principle.

Even Diwali celebrations begin with phulbaaji, zaad, chakras and other things before moving to baans (arrows) and sutali bomb. Tabla wizard Zakir Hussain starts with peshkaars first before moving to farmaaishi chakradhaars and relaas in his solo recitals. Even Kumar Gandharva used to start the concert with noam-toam before moving to khayal and tarana. The 'sequence' is important in rummy and holding your 'trump-card' for the right time is important in the game of bridge too.

Even in cricket - in uniquestly unique pastime and the only game of glorious uncertainties played at the Commonwealth level - you would ideally like good teams to get into the groove, find their form, feet, bearing, touch and good combination before taking on each other. That is more likely to give us a cracking contest.

However, by opting for the sutali bomb first, the ICC has (indirectly or inadvertently) showed their lack of understanding about the sport and sense of desperation. They think if they start with the bomb (India-Pak contest), even the neighbours (casual cricket followers) will be attracted to the tournament. And then they will watch the following matches too!

Good marketing thought. But a one-sided Indo-Pak contest (either in World T20 or in ODI World Cup) or even a half-baked match will put off some followers.

The accepted wisdom indicates that you don't begin with a Holland-Germany contest even if they are in the same group of Fifa World Cup. Ditto with Germany-Holland in field hockey; or Becker vs McEnroe in the Davis Cup. You allow a build-up to the contest before it reaches the crescendo. You try to give it a feel of winners-advance-but-losers-get-knocked-out feel before they are set to play each other.

The ICC has taken a gamble by opting with traditional rivalries upfront . If this calculated risk works, great. If it doesn't, then the serious fans of cricket are open to start their rot-fixing inquiry against this brainwave.

PS: As I upload this, even Bayern Munich and Man United are drawn against each other in the Uefa Champions League quarterfinals. Ditto Real and Borussia Dortmund. Good teams playing somewhat prematurely? Yes... but these are knockout matches, not group contests. So, if they were not drawn against each other now, we may not have seen these contests if they had lost their way in between. Since it was a draw of lots and not intelligent scheduling, Uefa could not have avoided it. Cricket quips: "I'm different!"