There are plenty of much-anticipated contests in the 2019 Cricket World Cup. But nothing to compare with this Sunday’s match at Old Trafford, where India are billed to play Pakistan in the latest epic in a rivalry that dates back to Partition in 1947.
It’s a rivalry that is regularly punctuated by war. No cricket was played between the two countries from 1961 until 1978. The 1965 conflict, caused by Pakistani aggression, severed relations. By the time a ceasefire was declared, Indian tanks were on the outskirts of Lahore, where a 12-year-old Imran Khan was distraught not to be allowed to join a local militia.
The two countries fought again in 1971 when India backed insurgents in the liberation war which led to the secession of East Pakistan and the creation of Bangladesh. Cricketing relations remained in cold storage until 1978, by which time Imran was leading his country’s pace attack, helping Pakistan to demolish a weak Indian opposition.
This was the start of a happy period of ‘cricket diplomacy’, as Pakistan’s military leader General Zia-ul-Haq used cricket to improve relations with Rajiv Gandhi, prime minister of Pakistan’s much larger southern neighbour.
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