Champions Trophy: India vs Pakistan lacks its old spark, but the atmosphere remains electric
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Each of us is informed and ravaged by our past in equal measure. All of us look for the sublime in what might be the future, even while balancing expectation and experience. And, even knowing this, we simply cannot stay in the present. Our minds throttle us with what happened and race at the prospect of what might be.
In 2025, this is the collective state of mind of the fans of two countries when they play each other. India v Pakistan is not the delicious prospect it once was because anticipation doesn’t heighten the appetite any longer. Bilaterally there is scarcity, but globally India and Pakistan play each other often enough. And yet, the atmosphere is so charged that any and every game is an event. It is beyond sport. In this case, Pakistan are travelling to Dubai to take on India in a tournament they are hosting. While the heartbeat of the tournament may have been imagined in Lahore and Karachi, the real action is in Dubai.
The layers are endless. In the context of the tournament, Pakistan, having lost to New Zealand, desperately need to win this match. India, having beaten Bangladesh, want to show that the strength in their team can translate into dominance. Pakistan have real angst. Indian broadcasters have gone as far as to rope in Mahendra Singh Dhoni to do a badla advert. Revenge is an eminently saleable story in sport, but exactly what
