India and Pakistan cup encounters not enough for Khawaja

Early Monday morning, India and Pakistan will meet once again on a World Cup stage – the only stage, in fact, where they have been seen in competition for more than a decade.

Among the many lovers of the game endlessly frustrated by this long-standing state of limited cricket contact between the two nations, Usman Khawaja is uniquely placed, and uniquely vocal.

India and Pakistan last met at the 2019 ODI World Cup in England.Credit:AP

Born in Pakistan, a top-order player for Australia and a participant in both the IPL and the PSL, he has appealed to cricket and political authorities to find a way to get the two nations back playing with the sort of frequency he saw in his childhood.

Between 1998 and 2008, India and Pakistan crossed paths six times in Test series, before the Mumbai terror attacks froze out not only their bilateral relations, but the presence of Pakistani cricketers in the IPL. In Khawaja’s mind, this is the south Asian equivalent of 13 years going by without an Ashes series.

“They were amazing to watch. I almost counted them, looking back now, as like the subcontinent Ashes,” Khawaja told The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. “Two countries, very passionate about the game, very good cricketers, a bit of little brother versus big brother.

“Since it’s been happening for a few years now, it’s been sad that the two countries and the ICC haven’t been able to resolve this and bring the two countries to play together. The more they don’t play, the more they avoid each other, the worse things get, and it’s really a shame because it’s such a big part of cricket.”

Indian fans celebrate as a Pakistan wicket falls in a 2015 Cricket World Cup match at the Adelaide Oval.Credit:Getty Images

When Khawaja played in the IPL in 2016, he was welcomed openly, and said that the language of cricket should be able to break down a lot of the barriers that have been widening over the past decade.

“Over there playing in the IPL in 2016, I just assumed it would happen again and it wasn’t really a big thing,” he said. “But when I went over to Pakistan this time around and chatted to a few of them about it … they just want to play cricket, and I can’t imagine it is too dissimilar to the Indians.

“I was born in Pakistan, I go over to the IPL and play, and I was treated as well as anyone else could’ve been treated. It was great, I loved my time there, there was no hostility whatsoever, and I was born in Pakistan, so if I was ever going to get anything it was going to be then, and I didn’t receive any whatsoever.

“I’ve grown up in Australia my whole life, yes I do have an affiliation with my home country, but I only care about what’s good for cricket. I can’t imagine both sides don’t want to play cricket together. When I talk to the Indian guys, I can see the passion in their eyes, they love the game, and when I talk to the Pakistani guys they’re the same.”

Usman Khawaja wants to see India and Pakistan meet again outside the umbrella of World Cups.Credit:AP

Above all else, Khawaja is desperate for an end to the lack of Test cricket between the two countries. The recent institution of the ICC’s World Test Championship provides added impetus for a resumption of long-form contact, and Khawaja pointed out how, in Australia, a shared love of cricket and subcontinental heritage has transcended any other differences.

“I have a lot of subcontinental friends in Australia, just through university, not so much through cricket,” he said. “Funnily enough, the majority are Indians. It makes sense, they have a bigger population, and not once have we ever had any issue about anything. It’s just been like, the fact we’re actually from the subcontinent brings us closer together rather than ‘oh you’re from Pakistan’ or ‘you’re from India’.

“None of that matters – when you’re in Australia, you actually gravitate towards the subcontinent guys. When I see that, I just think ‘all together in Australia we get along, and we don’t even think twice about where we’re from’. It doesn’t really matter to us.”

Australia, of course, would be an ideal neutral venue for India and Pakistan to play one another – the jubilant scenes witnessed when the two nations faced one another at a packed Adelaide Oval during the 2015 World Cup are proof of that. A repeat can be expected at the T20 event, also in Australia, next year.

“We get to see them at the World Cups, but that’s just not enough – I want to see some red-ball games,” Khawaja said. “I want to see Pakistan spinners take on Indian spinners, Pakistan batters take on Indian batters in the longer form, because that’s the true test.

“Now that there is a world Test championship, it’s the perfect opportunity to say ‘Look, Pakistan and India, time for you to play’. It’d be so great for world cricket if at some stage we can work together to get that happening again.”

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