Non-nucular Cricket

Some of the greatest ODI cricket games were played last year when India toured Pakistan. The first one day match was a classic. It holds the record for the most number of runs scored in an ODI. The following test series was historic since after a long delay India had toured Pakistan. The Indian government had refused to let their team play cricket with the Pakistanis because of Kargil and just because they could. The only exception to this was the India-Pakistan match in the 2003 World Cup.

Now, a year later the Pakistanis visit India for a One Day and Test series. The reception by the Indians has been heart warming. Today is Inzamam's birthday. He's the captain of the Pakistani team. This was one of the sights in today's warm up game. Here's another. After decades of conflict, a simple game brings these two nuclear nations together. May we see more cricket like this.

Update: Will at The Corridor of Uncertainty linked to a BBC article about the improving travel between India and Pakistan because of the cricket series in India.

This brought back a memory: I lived close to the tracks in Lahore and remember watching the really long trains that went from Lahore to India in the 90s. I watched them go by while playing cricket on the roof with my cousins (sixes were strictly illegal). That was a lot of fun.

Again, I hope that relations between these two nations continue to improve.