Suryakumar Yadav has dismissed talk of any cricketing “rivalry” with Pakistan at the end of yet another one-sided contest on Sunday.
The India T20 captain was asked whether beating the neighbours still carried the same thrill it did in the early 2000s.
“I would like to say one thing on this question. I feel that you should stop asking this question on the rivalry,” he said.
India have now beaten Pakistan in seven straight men’s internationals since losing to the arch-rivals at the Asia Cup in 2022 in Dubai. Pakistan have struggled to face an Indian side which is much superior in white-ball cricket.
It surely doesn’t evoke the same fervour as Pakistan cricket has been in a decline since the beginning of this decade.
It was quite different when Sadagopan Ramesh and Rahul Dravid’s 166-run partnership got India their first ODI win over Pakistan after eight straight defeats in the April 1999 Coca-Cola Cup in Sharjah.
“Standards and rivalry are the same,” Surya said. “According to me, if two teams play 15-20 matches and if (head-to-head) it is 7-7 or 8-7, then that is called a rivalry. But 13-0, 10-1….I don’t know what the stats are. But this is not a rivalry anymore. But yeah, I feel we played better cricket than them.”
The intensity though hasn’t diminished, as was evident during a mid-pitch confrontation between Abhishek Sharma and Haris Rauf.
The fracas didn’t end there. Rauf was also seen making inflammatory gestures at the crowd. Being heckled with chants of “Kohli, Kohli” from a section of Indian fans, the pacer held up his hands and appeared to indicate the number six, and then made more gestures that resembled an aircraft flying and coming down.
It could have been an indication to the alleged losses India suffered during Operation Sindoor.
Back in the 1990s, Pakistan called the shots with the likes of Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Shoaib Akhtar in action, while their batting was also strong with Saeed Anwar, Inzamam-ul Haq, Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Yousuf and Abdul Razzaq.
There are already questions being asked about whether Pakistan cricket is going downhill, much like their hockey team. The Indian players seem several notches superior than their Pakistani counterparts and this is reflected in all spheres of the game.
Even if Pakistan make the final of the Asia Cup, they would perhaps struggle to put up a fight. The disparity between the teams is too much to overcome in a matter of few days. Surya was possibly referring to this vast disparity when he said that the cricketing rivalry has ceased to exist between the two neighbouring nations.