It’s a strong case

It’s the cricket world cup again! To the uninitiated in cricket it seems the world cup is played twice each year. Not their fault as there are so many different cricket formats and their respective world cups plus the IPL. Yes IPL is related to cricket, it’s not just about money and bribes. Back to where I started, the Cricket world Cup is back to the sub-continent after 14 years. Amidst much heat there is something missing in the world cup this time. Excitement. The hype is not high enough and the controversies not very controversial. The good news is the better half of the scheduled matches are left to play and the excitement is building on.

There is a card up the sleeve of this world cup, if played it can give a massive boost to the prospects of this version of the game. The history of the game has had big rivalries from the erstwhile West Indies and Australia to the ever green Australia-England and off late India-Australia. Keeping Australia and its rivalries aside the greatest rivalry is between India and Pakistan. Of course the rivalry is much bigger than cricket but the pitch acts as a medium of war.

So will this world cup give the spectators a chance to see the mother of all cricket battles? Will there be a showcase of the greatest cricket battle fought in Mumbai on 2^nd April. I think it would be and the reason is not my wishful thinking alone. Here are 8 reasons that are making the case stronger:

1. One-day cricket needs revival – With T-20s becoming popular, IPL raking in the moolah, one-day crickets popularity is on the downhill slope. Despite efforts to revive it by awarding the hosting rights out of turn to the sub-continent, the world cups popularity is still low. The world cup has not been able to come back from the troughs it reached in 2007. This is of serious concern to the authorities and a big final can certainly turn things around and set the ball rolling. Again.

2. Revenue – The sheer thought of and India Pakistan final would make the T.V. and other rights holder ecstatic. The advertisement rates of the final would be 2.5 times the rate of league matches. If one of the team from subcontinent plays the final the rates would get doubled, i.e. make it 5 times. If India plays then rates would get double again and if the opponent is Pakistan then the resulting double figure makes the revenue 20 times as compared to a normal league match. The rights had been issued at exorbitant rates and the companies want a handsome ROI.

3. Betting – Just like the T.V. moguls the betting syndicates’ revenues would increase umpteen times in case of an India Pakistan final. These 2 countries account for 90% revenue in the illegal betting circuit. People would love to bet on this final. And in all betting circuits it’s only the people who run the bets who laugh their way to the (swiss) bank.

4. Fixtures – India is like to finish 2^nd in their group in the league stages. Hence they will play the 3^rd placed team of group B in the quarter finals. Pakistan is likely to finish 4^th in their group and hence will play the winners of group A. In case this happening, the likelihood also being high the teams will play in grounds where they have strong support. The quarterfinals of India would be in Ahmedabad and of Pakistans in Mirpur where they would feel like home. So it’s not just the fixtures but the venue too!

These respective quarterfinal winners will play in different semi-finals and on winning will proceed to meet in the finals. Yes it’s that obvious.

5. Historically – The world cup finals has been played between the favourite team and the team that was the 4^th – 5^th favourite at the beginning of the world cup. Australia has been the favourite for the past 3 editions but has never played the final against the 2^nd favourites. This time India is a clear favourite to win the cup. The chances of Australia, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Pakistan followed in that order. Going by the past trend the final clearly tilts towards India (favourites) and Pakistan encounter.

6. Indian & Pakistani governments – The 26/11 attacks though not yet forgotten, but time has interspaced memory of the attacks. The sinusoidal nature of the relation of the Indian and Pakistan government continues. With the troughs phase passing the governments are looking for crest like events. This final of course would be one of the highest crests. Both the government would be using the platform to re-open talks and rebuild relations.

7. USA – Can a list of reasons be complete without the mention of Uncle Sam? Of course USA wants an Indo-Pak final. Obama would watch the opening ball of the match and make his case stronger to bid for Nobel peace prize again. CIA also has it's reasons, they will only be spoken about by their official PR agency: "WikiLeaks". And of course the US based MNCs want this final to increase their revenues.

8. Shiv Sena – The tiger has not roared since a long time. The finals are in Mumbai, the BMC elections are slated next year, Sena’s popularity is not very high, and votes would get split with MNS. This is a perfect opportunity for Mr. Thakrey Sr. to reek out a loud roar. The effects of it would be the party’s ideology getting media attention, back door meetings in the corridors of power, some political arrangements made between the Maratha (who also is president of ICC) and the ailing tiger.

If these are not enough there are plenty of other reasons to have this final. Tendulkar’s final frontier, the crowds return on investment, Pakistani team that wants to come out of allegations, and the list goes on.

This might be a whimsical idea right now but the probability of it coming alive is getting bigger every moment.

Go India. Go Pakistan.