Sport | Cricket
Love of game brings together rival fans
It is not often that Indians and Pakistanis back each other, but at the Centurion that is what happened
- By K.R. Nayar, Senior Reporter
- Published: 23:19 October 1, 2009
- Image Credit: AP
- An Indian fan at the match between India and West Indies at the Wanderers in Johannesburg.
Centurion: It was an experience to be at two one-day international venues on the same day. After reporting the day match at Centurion between Australia and Pakistan, I got back to Wanderers, in Johannesburg, for the India-West Indies day-night match.
The two grounds are only 45 minutes drive from each other and this helped me experience this rare honour.
Despite reaching Wanderers, it was tough to get over the excitement of the Australia-Pakistan duel. Undoubtedly, that was the best match of the tournament so far.
It was also that rare occasion when one got to see cricket uniting fans from two countries that are arch rivals. The few Indians who turned up for the Australia- Pakistan match backed Pakistan right from the start.
They had their selfish interest of wanting to see Pakistan beat Australia to ensure a smooth passage for their team into the semifinals.
It was a rare sight to see the Indian fans joining the Pakistan fans and shout out the slogan Pakistan jeethega (Pakistan will win). In the end, both fans were seen consoling each other. In fact, the Pakistan fans were more concerned for their counterparts.
I met an Indian fan who was dressed in the Indian team colour. His disappointment was written all over his face.
"My cousins from Durban and Cape Town were planning to come for the semifinal and maybe stay on for the final. They just called to say they've cancelled plans," he said with a grim face.
But the biggest crowd puller so far in this tournament was the India-Pakistan match at Centurion. In fact, it was the only match where the organisers announced that all tickets had been sold out the day before the match.
Many fear that the final may now be held in front of an empty stadium.
"There aren't enough people from England, New Zealand or Australia here to fill a stadium. If the stadium has to be full here, then it has to be either India, South Africa or Pakistan playing. This is why the 2007 Twenty20 and Indian Premier League staged here was a huge success," said a fan.
Tracing the large number of Indians in this country, a South African journalist explained: "People from India were brought here and sold into slavery around 1600. Most of them were from Bengal, Goa and Surat and they went on to settle down here. But most of the new generation Indians are in very high positions here."
In almost every mall there are Indian or Pakistan restaurants& the popular joint in Sandton being Delhi Durbar, extremely famous for their Roti Roll.
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