It’s a question worthy of an International relations syllabus: Can cricket prevent war, or does war trump cricket? The 1947 partition that sectioned Pakistan from India led to mass migration, violent upheavals and an ongoing land dispute. It also sparked cricket’s most vehement rivalry. The countries first met in 1952 and played 15 Tests in the next 10 years, with India winning two to Pakistan’s one, and 12 ending in a draw. But tension between the nuclear powers interfered on the pitch, and play was suspended for 17 years as two wars were fought. Since then, cricket has often fallen by the wayside when political relations become untenable. But the sport has also been used to orchestrate détente, with heads of state meeting at matches and squeezing in negotiations during lunch and tea. It’s called cricket diplomacy.
